


The Pieces

by kawada_s



Series: The Pieces [1]
Category: Battle Royale - All Media Types, The Tribe (TV)
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-23
Updated: 2017-10-07
Packaged: 2018-10-22 23:55:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 11
Words: 51,639
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10707810
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kawada_s/pseuds/kawada_s
Summary: The world is in turmoil after a mysterious virus wipes out everyone eighteen and over, leaving the children to pick up the pieces. Some are looking to the future, some want to destroy everything in their path, while others are just trying to make it through the day. With the fate of the world potentially in anyone’s hands, what will happen? An AU based on television show The Tribe, following the plot of the show with some alterations.





	1. Chapter One

The Pieces 

Part I: Chapter One

All that seemed to be on television these days was the news. Usually, news of the latest death toll was strewn across the screen, accompanied by the supposed to be soothing words of a newsreader, telling everyone to remain calm. The geniuses of the world were working on a cure, they assured them, but those words seemed laughable these days. Adults were such a rarity these days. Most of the scientists had to be dead now. There was no hope.

If the cause of the pandemic had been pinpointed, it had never been released to the public. All everyone knew was that it had entered the world out of seemingly nowhere, took down its victims fast, and was like nothing anyone had ever seen before. It targeted only those eighteen and over, starting with the symptoms of the common cold. Then, the victim began to notice strands of grey hair, a few wrinkles that hadn’t been there before. Within days after that, they were coughing up blood, struggling to breathe, and looked about ninety. It was a horrifying thing to see. Despite all attempts to stop it spreading, the virus had attacked every corner of the world and now, the Earth seemed to be on its last days. Very soon, the children would be on their own.

Sakura Ogawa was one of the lucky ones, it seemed. She was one of the few people in town who still had one parent left. So far, her mother had escaped the plague, showing no signs of age, no coughs or sneezes, but she knew in the back of her mind, it was coming. Holding her hand tightly, she sat on the couch as they watched the local news, the report as grim as ever.

“Break-ins and looting have been reported city-wide, most troubling at the police station. We advise the public to remain calm. A cure is still coming. We must take precaution however, so while we wait, we advise parents to ready their children for evacuation procedures. All people under the age of eighteen years must report to their local bus station in a calm manner tomorrow morning, with a small bag of essential belongings. The children will be transported to safety while we wait for this to pass, and will be allowed to return accordingly.”

“Sakura, go pack a bag,” her mother said. She reached for the remote, wanting to turn off the television, block out all the reports coming in and pretend for a minute that it was okay, but she couldn’t. While the media was still trying, she couldn’t kid herself anymore. “I want you at that bus station tomorrow.”

“No!” Sakura immediately protested. “I can’t leave you. There’s still time. I can’t leave you here alone…”

“You have to go,” her mother said, placing a hand on her shoulder. “While it is too late for us, you still have a chance. Save yourself, Sakura. Please.” The words swirled around in her head as she stared down at her lap. _Save yourself… save yourself… save yourself…_

When she looked back at her mother, her appearance had changed. Her face had aged considerably, her hair was white and was falling into her lap, and blood dripped from her mouth. When she opened her mouth to give her a smile, all her teeth had rotted, most of them gone. Sakura jerked back at the horrific sight, letting out a bloodcurdling scream.

“Sakura! Sakura! Sakura! Wake up!” the voice of her boyfriends, Kazuhiko Yamamoto, brought her back to reality. Her eyes snapped open, but the horrific image remained burned into her brain. She leaned into his embrace and blinked her tears back, knowing it was no time to breakdown. Was there any time, these days?

“I’m sorry,” Sakura looked over at him. “I had the dream again, with my mother. We’re in my living room, watching TV… then her face… you know it almost as well as I do now.”

Kazuhiko nodded, kissing her forehead. He then got up carefully off the couch, slinging a bag over his shoulder.

“We have to go. I went scouting around this morning for some more supplies and almost ran into some trouble. One of the gangs is coming close, raiding houses. We can’t afford to stay here another day,” Kazuhiko explained, helping her up. His heart ached when he saw her wince, something she tried and failed to hide, but she still kept going, reaching over to pull her coat on. “Also… I wanted to see if we could find somewhere permanent for us and Maki. Somewhere safe.”

Sakura looked over at the basket by the couch, eyes filling with guilt. Maki. The life they had accidentally brought into this hellish world, who would never grow up in a world that was relatively safe, relatively certain. All she would know would be pain and war, and she had never hated herself  more for it. When she thought of herself as a mother in the old days, she told herself that she would keep her child safe, no matter what. It would be her first priority. Now, nothing could be guaranteed.

“We aren’t going to be safe anywhere,” Sakura whispered as she picked up the baby, hands shaking. Kazuhiko looked over at her, face grim, but still tried his hardest to say something hopeful.

“We might be able to find something in the city. If we set off now, we should be in the heart of it by nightfall,” he nodded at her. She followed him to the door, unsteady on her feet as she gripped Maki. All she wanted was to sleep, pain filling her whenever she took a step, but she knew she had to keep moving.

With one glance back at the place Kazuhiko had called home for the last fifteen years of his life, they left. He tried to keep his mind in the present, but his mind couldn’t help but linger back to what was going to inevitably happen in the next few hours – his childhood home was going to be completely destroyed. At least, at the very least, it didn’t exactly feel like a home anymore.

\---

Shinji Mimura rollerbladed through the streets of Shiroiwa, guiding his two companions, Noriko and Yugo Nakagawa, along with him. They too wanted to get somewhere – well, Noriko and Yugo did, Shinji still wasn’t too sure about what he wanted yet – but countless obstacles had risen up during the past few days. Considering the fact the city was an absolute warzone, navigating it could easily lead to the streets being covered in your own blood, but so far, they had managed to avoid any sort of confrontation.

Noriko knew she couldn’t have done it without Shinji. He knew the streets far better than she did, and it was only luck they had ended up deciding to group up together. They had been next-door neighbours, and after the deaths of her parents, the two had ended up seeing each other outside their homes, striking up a conversation. They had pooled together their resources and lived in Noriko’s home while they figured out what to do next, something that they still hadn’t exactly reached an agreement on.

They would have to wait for later to negotiate, however, as the sound of sirens filled their ears. Sirens no longer meant the police heading their way – at least, not in the way people had considered before. It meant that the gangs were coming. When things had gotten really bad, most of the adults gone and some kids about to go over the edge, two wild kids had stolen a police car and began to terrorise the city with it. They now had a gang of followers backing them, and the sirens essentially meant death, unless you could make a quick escape.

“They’re coming this way,” Noriko said, reaching out for Yugo’s hand as she searched for a hiding place. “Hey, behind there!”

She pointed to a burnt-out school bus – another thing courtesy of the gang, most likely – and Shinji nodded. The two quickly bladed over to it and crouched behind, grabbing a few cardboard boxes that were strewn around and stacking them above it, just in case. They could just peek through and catch a glimpse of the action on the road. The sirens were getting louder, piercing their ears with each wail. All three of them were grimacing.

Noriko’s expression turned to one of horror when she realised that there was a girl on the road. She seemed to be completely oblivious to the danger approaching, walking down the road slowly as she fiddled with something. If she stayed there, there was no doubt that she’d be picked up by the approaching gang.

“Shinji, look! Out there… there’s a girl,” Noriko said, trying to keep her voice down. “She’ll be dead if we don’t do something.”

“There’s no time, Noriko. We have to look after ourselves. Adding another person into the mix? It’s much too risky,” Shinji shook his head. Noriko let out a sigh. She knew he had a bit of a point, but she wouldn’t be able to live with herself if the girl was picked up and murdered. He would regret it too, she knew, not that he would admit it. Ever since he had lost track of his little sister, who had been herded off on one of the evacuation buses, never to be seen again, he hadn’t been the same.

“I’m going.”

Before Shinji could pull her back or Yugo protest, Noriko had disappeared from their hiding place, out onto the road. She was cutting it close, Shinji could tell. The sirens were closer than ever. He watched through the gap in the boxes as she grabbed the girl, her letting out a yelp before Noriko covered her mouth. She lead her back into their hiding spot, hand still clamped over her mouth, as the police car finally entered the street.

Teenagers flanked the car, skating after it as it went along. The knives strapped to their sides could be clearly seen. The car was covered in graffiti, the gang having claimed it as their own, their leaders’ names on the front. Their leaders were inside the car, standing up, staring straight ahead as they went along. Even though she couldn’t see their faces properly, Noriko still shivered at the sight.

“They aren’t patrolling today,” Noriko frowned. “They’re in a hurry to get somewhere.”

“Probably on some sort of Sunday afternoon drive,” Shinji muttered. “Who even knows what day it is anymore?”

Once the car had faded from sight, the sirens also fading away, Noriko uncovered the girl’s mouth. She was shaking, her glasses crooked on her face. Immediately, she reached for her necklace, confirming it was there.

“T-thank you,” the girl stammered. “You saved my life.”

“I couldn’t just leave you there,” Noriko said to her. She knew Shinji wouldn’t exactly be happy to receive a new member of their group, but now that they had saved her, they couldn’t exactly tell her to get lost. It would be far too messy. “I’m Noriko. This is my brother, Yugo, and that’s Shinji. He was my neighbour… before.”

The girl nodded, and gripped her necklace.

“I’m Kaori,” the girl said to them. “I’ve gotten a little lost.”

“You can stay with us until you find your group, if you want,” Noriko said. That was an unexpected compromise. Kaori wasn’t going to be a permanent member of their group, another mouth to feed, that task hard enough already.

Kaori nodded at them again and once they all checked for danger, they were off. If they kept going, even with the unexpected stop and rescue, they could still be approaching the city’s exit by tomorrow morning.

\---

The fact that they had been ordered to meet here of all places – in the middle of relatively nowhere – had been the first red flag. The ghostly, burnt-out railway carriage they had found there had only heightened the feelings on unease. It was too late to back out, now, however. If they ran, they were definitely going to die. Instead, the group all stood inside the railway carriage, with nothing left to do but wait. Yoshimi Yahagi paced around, chipping away at her nail polish as she did so, only stopping when the voice of one of her companions cut through the air.

“Yoshimi, can you stop?” Hirono Shimizu, one of her long-time friends, snapped at her. Immediately, Yoshimi stopped in place. Irritating Hirono never ended well. “You’re making me dizzy.”

“Sorry,” Yoshimi mumbled. “I’m just worried, that’s all. What if we’ve gotten the wrong meeting place? The wrong time? The wrong day, even? I thought they’d be here by now.”

“They’re coming. You can hear the sirens. Souma and Numai are going to keep their word,” Hirono muttered, looking down at the bulky bag she was gripping. If she played her cards right, or rather, the group liked what she had brought, it could be their ticket to an all-new life. No more running, no more starvation… it could almost be cushy, even. What was better than joining up with the most fearsome tribe in the city?

“I just hope you know what you’re doing, Shimizu. We haven’t come this far to die today,” Haruka Tanizawa cut in. They had picked her up about two months ago. She was living in an old sports store that they had stopped at for the night, and had ultimately decided to team up. Haruka had been a star volleyball player at school. Hirono had been surprised to find her alone.

“I know what I’m doing, Tanizawa. I promise,” Hirono sighed. “I negotiated with Numai and Souma myself. They said they’d meet us here, at the end of the day, and we’d talk. I couldn’t have heard any of that wrong.”

Haruka nodded, but was still unsure. She heard the sirens coming closer and closer, the piercing wails the only thing she could focus on in that moment. Yoshimi listened in utter fear, completely regretting the decision to come along. She cared deeply about Hirono and they had gone through a lot together over the years, but maybe it would have been better if she had split? In this case, maybe she would have had a better chance on her own.

As the sirens consumed them, the car came into view. They heard the faint crunching of gravel under the tyres, the sound of rollerblades as they tried to manoeuvre their way over the surface, and finally… nothing. The sound of the sirens still rang around in their ears, but that was not the thing they were focusing on now. Instead, their eyes were on the two leaders of the gang, Mitsuko Souma and Mitsuru Numai, who looked even scarier in person, as they exited the car. They climbed onto the hood and jumped off onto the ground below, Yoshimi flinching as they hit the ground.

Mitsuko lit a cigarette as she waited for the three to come forward, already looking bored as hell. Haruka and Yoshimi struggled to hide their unease, knowing that Mitsuko would be able to locate it easily. Hirono decided to be the one to start the talking.

“Souma, Numai, you’re here,” Hirono said, coming forward with the huge bag of supplies. “I got everything you could possibly want in here. Batteries – tons of batteries, flashlights, even a few walkie-talkies-“

Mitsuru looked somewhat more interested that Mitsuko, but as she went on, it was obvious his patience was wearing thin.

“What about food?” Mitsuru asked, arms crossed. This time, Haruka stepped forward beside Hirono, holding a small plastic bag.

“We only have enough for ourselves,” Haruka said, fighting hard to keep her voice strong. Showing weakness would only make the exchange even worse.

“Like we care. Katsu, take it,” Mitsuko ordered. A rough-looking boy standing a little behind the two leaders nodded, snatching the bag from the girl. She was going to protest, but decided against it when she saw the two baseball bats he had with him. “So, now that we’ve gotten that sorted, I have something to ask. Why do you want to be a Reject?”

Hirono looked at her, watching as she moved forward slightly to blow smoke in her face. It was as if to say, _you don’t matter to me at all._ She wanted to slam her fist in her face and tell her where to go, but tried to keep calm. If she blew this, she was dead. The Rejects – for the life of her she couldn’t figure out why they’d picked that name for their gang – were waiting for an answer. She scanned the yard for any inspiration, her eyes landing on some graffiti on the train carriage they’d been waiting in.

“You… you guys are the hardest bunch in town. Who wouldn’t want to be part of your group?” Hirono said, forcing herself to try and butter up to them as much as possible. “And… and… you guys are scandalous.”

The silence that filled the yard after that was deafening. Haruka and Yoshimi looked over at her, eyes wide as they waited for any reaction at all from the group. Eventually, Mitsuko crunched her cigarette under her boot, threw her head back, and loudly laughed. Mitsuru soon joined in, and then the rest of the Rejects joined in. Hirono’s face burned with anger and embarrassment. That was it. That was the last straw.

With a cry of fury, Hirono grabbed the heavy bag of supplies off the ground, and whacked Mitsuko as hard as she possibly could with it. The gang leader fell to the ground, sending Katsu and several others with her.

“Run.”

Hirono, Yoshimi and Haruka immediately took off in the other direction, runnjng faster than they ever had in their lives.

“We’ll get you! We’ll get you, you little motherfuckers!”

It was going to be a long evening, an even longer night. That was, if they ended up surviving it.

\---

“I’m just saying, Noriko,” Shinji said to the girl as they walked along, having ditched their blades for now, “your idea of going to the country is good… in theory. Sure, we can find a place to live, grow some shit and let everyone rot here, but what happens when all the food here runs out? You don’t think that they won’t think of exploring a little further?”

“I know, Shinji. It isn’t perfect, but what is in this world?” Noriko sighs. “It has to be better than here. All this fighting and blood… we can start afresh.”

“We grew up here, and as screwy as this place is now, I don’t want to leave for good just yet,” Shinji said. “It seems like giving up. I don’t give up. There has to be something else here for us. We’ve gotten this far.”

“I… I’m sorry to interrupt, but where’s Kaori?” Yugo asked, getting both of their attention. Shinji looked around briefly, and swore under his breath. She was gone.

They continued to walk for a while, the two quiet after that. While she was a stranger, she hoped Kaori was all right. She began to think of things she could have done, maybe included her in their conversation, checked on her more? What if she had slipped away, feeling unwanted, and had been picked up by some gang? The thoughts remained at the forefront of her mind as she looked around. Most of the city wasn’t pleasing to the eye anymore, covered in litter, graffiti, or burned, so when she saw the park, which had gotten through surprisingly unscathed, it immediately got her attention.

She saw Kaori sitting there, at a picnic table, with two other girls. Without thinking, she went over to greet them. The two girls she hadn’t met, one with short her and the other wearing her hair in two braids, flinched and looked around for something to grab.

“It’s okay!” Kaori exclaimed. “She saved my life. She’s the girl I told you about.”

“O-oh,” the girl with the two braids said sheepishly. “Sorry. Thank you for that. Kaori’s always running off, for some reason or another.”

“It’s really annoying,” the short-haired girl said quietly. “I always get worried that you won’t come back.”

Noriko took a seat at the table beside Kaori, Shinji and Yugo joining her. They were on the brink of sundown. Shinji didn’t like the thought of picking up more mouths to feed, but at the same time, he hoped they’d stay the night with them. It gave him more time to get Noriko to reconsider her plan.

“Of course I will,” Kaori murmured, looking down sadly at her necklace. “Anyway, Noriko, here’s my group. We were living in the school for a little while, but after the Rejects came, we moved. It’s gone now – burnt down. Yukie is kind of our leader, I guess. Megumi’s been my best friend since we were little.”

“Hello,” Noriko greeted the two. “We lost our place too. Home raids. Since then, we’ve basically been wandering, trying to figure out what to do next. We don’t have a lot… but we’d be willing to share. We’re both in the same boat after all.”

An unfamiliar voice filled their ears and everyone tensed. Shinji was the first to turn around. A girl with bleach blonde spiky hair and a red jacket stood there, eyeing them with a smirk on her lips. Behind her was another blonde girl, more focused on the state of her nails, and a short-haired girl who looked like she wanted to be absolutely anywhere else.

“Yeah, sharing sounds good,” the girl said, taking a few steps forward. “A good way to repay me.” The two girls with her stepped back, eyeing her nervously, while Shinji, Yukie and Noriko stepped forward.

“Repay you for what, exactly?” Yukie raised an eyebrow. “We haven’t even met!”

“Well, you see, I own this part of the city. You all are trespassing,” the girl said. “Usually, I’d beat the shit out of you, but today I guess I’m feeling a little generous. Give me your food, fuck off, and all will be forgiven. Come on. It’s an offer that you can’t refuse.”

“I think we will,” Shinji muttered. “You’re bluffing. You don’t own shit.”

“Do you want to repeat that?” the girl said with gritted teeth. Noriko stepped back a little, deciding to let Shinji and Yukie handle it, feeling Yugo pulling on her sleeve. Without any words, she asked him what was wrong, and he motioned into the distance. She could see dark-clothed figures approaching, and rather quickly at that.

“HEY!”

As soon as she saw the Rejects, Noriko grabbed her brother and began to run. Yukie, Megumi and Kaori followed, as did Shinji once the girl’s attention had been taken by the gang. He looked back once as they ran, noticing they were going after the three girls, their group going almost completely unnoticed. He smirked and ran to catch up with them, not knowing what was next.

Seeing the sight of the Rejects, Hirono swore loudly. The group she had tried to steal food from was gone, and the gang was not slowing down. As they began to run, they heard the sounds of gunshots.

“We’re dead,” Yoshimi whimpered. “We’re so dead. So dead it isn’t even funny.”

Then, out of nowhere, Haruka grabbed the two of them and shoved them to the side, behind a large dumpster. An unexpected saviour had arrived. Another gang, the Hornets, was approaching the Rejects. The Hornets were the biggest rivals of the Rejects, the two gangs constantly going to war over food, territory or just for the sake of it for a show of strength.

As the bloody battle began, Haruka took the two and began to run, escaping rather unnoticed from the carnage.

“I think, if I remember correctly, there’s a car park that way. We could check out what’s there,” Yoshimi pointed. The two girls nodded.

“Let’s go, then,” Hirono said, and then they were off.

\---

The carpark was much like the rest of the city, Noriko noticed. She kicked a can out of her way as they walked, holding onto Yugo’s hand tightly. Yukie lead the group, taking them through the ghostly, abandoned area easily, where they were greeted with two glass doors. She pushed them open and the group walked up a ramp, finding themselves standing on the bottom floor of a place they had all hung out in at one point in time – the Hayashida Shopping Mall. Before the virus had struck, it had been almost brand new, even kind of elegant-looking for a mall. Now, it didn’t exactly look like a wreck, but still there had been damage done. They could already see some of the shop windows were smashed, the walls covered in graffiti. Compared to other buildings in the city, however, the mall had fared rather well.

“Never have I been this happy to be at a mall,” Megumi said, looking up at the large water fountain by the entrance. It had been one of the most beautiful features of the place, back in the day. “I don’t remember it being this big.”

“We can stay here for tonight. I think we’ve well and truly lost them,” Yukie said. “I’ll go look around. Anyone want to join me?”

“Don’t move just yet,” the girl was back. Eyes wide, they all turned to face her, watching as she began to step towards them. “We still have some unfinished business. What was I saying, before we were so rudely interrupted? Oh, yeah. Gimme your food or-“

As the girl took another step forward, a giant metal grille slammed down in front of her. As she yelled and swore at them, demanding to know how they had done that, the other grille came down too, trapping them inside. Yukie looked around frantically, wondering where on earth it had come from. Was there someone here? Was it automatic? Were they just really lucky?

“Open this. Open this damn thing right now,” the girl began to rattle the grille. “I’m going to count to ten, okay? One. Two. Three. Four-“

“Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. _Ten._ I think that was a pretty empty threat, if I do say so myself.”

Yukie and her group turned around to see a small boy walking down the stairs of the mall, looking rather pleased with himself. He motioned for them to come closer.

“I’m Yutaka,” the boy smiled at them. “Now that they’re out of the way, do you want to look around?”

Still shocked, the group silently followed him. He lead them into the mall’s large café first, showing them around the kitchen. The kitchen was in pretty good shape, but the pantry was rather scarce. He even had a small camp cooker, which delighted the group. None of them could remember the last time they had eaten an actually hot meal.

What had caught Shinji’s attention, though, was the three cans of peaches in the pantry.

“Peaches? You have peaches?” He looked over at Yutaka, as if they were all just an illusion. “Okay, for now I take back every negative thought I had about you. You have peaches.”

Yutaka let out a laugh and lead them out of the kitchen, briefly showing them some other points of interest, before stopping at the bedding store.

“Beds?! You have actual beds?!” Megumi exclaimed as they went inside. She picked up one of the pillows, her smile growing larger. “Pillows… real feather pillows!”

“This is amazing,” Noriko looked over at Yutaka as Yugo jumped onto one of the beds, deciding to let him have his fun for now. “How can we repay you? I mean, you saved us from them, you’re willing to share your resources with us – we have to do something.”

“We can talk about that in the morning – just like how we’ll figure out what to do with them,” Yutaka grimaced as more threats rang out from the cage. He wished them goodnight, the group thanking him again, and then he left.

Noriko took a seat down on her bed, realising how tired she really was. Despite how unsure she was about what was to come next and the yelling from the cage, she fell asleep easily, the exhaustion of the months prior finally catching up all at once. Tomorrow would come when it did, and then, she’d deal with whatever came their way. In this new world, it was rather hard to make plans.


	2. Chapter Two

Chapter Two

The railway tunnel was out of action, as expected when Kazuhiko approached. One side was completely blocked off and the other partially, giving he and Sakura enough room to get through. Greenery helped obscure the small entrance, however, one of the other reasons he had picked the tunnel to rest in. Taking out his flashlight, he looked around, finding the tunnel to not be in as bad of a shape as he thought it would be. He found a place on the floor and took out a blanket, gently helping Sakura down onto it.

“You’re going, aren’t you?” Sakura asked him as he handed her Maki. Solemnly, he nodded. “Be… be careful out there, okay?”

“I will. I’ll be back soon, I promise,” Kazuhiko said. “You’ll be safe here, but we can’t stay here forever. I’m going to find somewhere for us. A home.”

Tears in her eyes, she gave him a nod, letting him pull her into a hug. He gave her a long kiss goodbye that she was hesitant to pull away from, then kissed Maki on the forehead before departing the tunnel. She took a deep breath, tried to tell herself everything would be fine, and took out some food from the bag he had left behind for them. She tore off a chunk of bread and tried to eat it as slow as possible, but of course, it would be gone eventually.

Kazuhiko made his way through the greenery and back into the mess of trash, burnt objects and buildings that was the main part of the city. There had to be somewhere around here that could be a home for he, Sakura and Maki. All hope of finding somewhere like that couldn’t be gone. He carefully manoeuvred his way through the streets, on the lookout for anything, the idea of a home the main thing on his mind. Was it practical though, in this new world?

All those thoughts disappeared as soon as the sound of police sirens came to his attention, his heart filling with hurt. He looked around for the fastest escape route, the sirens getting louder, and found a ladder propped against a building, leading up to its roof. He climbed it, hoping desperately he wouldn’t slip, getting to the empty roof two minutes later. From his spot, he could watch the action without getting caught.

He could see someone, probably a kid about twelve or thirteen, racing through the streets in terror. The police car of the Rejects appeared on the street, the gang screaming out at him as he ran, his attempts to flee futile. Kazuhiko turned away and crouched down, gripping the building’s railings tightly. He couldn’t watch what would happen when the kid was caught. He just couldn’t bring himself to.

As he heard Mitsuru scream something out to the running kid, the feelings of hurt returned.

 _What happened to you?_ Kazuhiko thought to himself as the sirens kept wailing. _This isn’t you at all…_

\---

Shinji was the first of Noriko and Yukie’s groups to wake up on the first morning at the mall. It still felt like a dream, finding this mall, being helped by Yutaka like that, the canned peaches in the pantry, the real, comfy bed… but it was all real. He was actually here, in this mall, which was some sort of paradise in all the chaos. He hoped Noriko would change her mind when she awakened. It seemed absolutely stupid to walk away from this.

He crept out of the room, not wanting to wake up anyone, deciding that he’d take a look around while he waited to see what would happen next. When he peered over the balcony, he saw that the three girls were asleep in the cage, him sighing in relief. It probably wouldn’t last long, though. Soon, they’d be up at they, or more specifically, their leader, would resume screaming the place down. Until then, he’d just enjoy the rare moment of peace. He briefly looked around in the kitchenware store situated near the bedding shop, seeing if there was anything left they could use as a weapon if worst came to worst, but there was nothing but empty shelves and crockery – most of it broken.

The sweet shop was next door to the kitchenware store, but he decided not to go inside. The café taunted him, images of the pantry filling his mind, but he didn’t go in. Helping yourself didn’t exactly seem like the best way to get an invitation to stay for good. Wanting to get right away from it, he went downstairs, creeping past the cage, to see what other shops he could find. The shoe shop was boring, same with the empty pet shop, but an electronic shop up ahead caught his attention.

He entered the store to find himself in Yutaka’s domain. A small bed was set up in the corner, clothes hung up beside it, and magazines and bits and pieces of projects were strewn across the floor. Towards the back was the workshop, where the boy himself sat, all his attention focused on the radio. He fiddled with the dials, letting out a grunt of frustration as he was greeted with static over and over again.

“What are you doing?” Shinji asked him. At the sound of his voice, Yutaka jumped, the radio clattering down on the desk.

“O-oh, sorry,” Yutaka looked over at him sheepishly. “I’m just not used to company. I’ve been on my own ever since my parents… you know. They told me to come here. I’ve been playing around with this radio for a few days now, trying to tune into different places, see what I can find.”

“All the radio stations are gone now,” Shinji frowned, moving closer to the desk. Seriously, he had all this good stuff in here and he was trying to play around with the _radio?_

“I know but… there has to be something out there. If I keep looking, someone has to respond,” Yutaka looked over at him, seeing that he was quickly losing his interest. “It couldn’t have taken every adult. It just couldn’t have.”

“I’m the first to believe that the media was hiding stuff from us during the chaos in the final months, but I do believe them when they said that all the adults were dying,” Shinji said. “If not, they’d have people in here now, trying to get everyone back in order, clean up, all that shit. Numai and Souma would be carted off to gaol or an asylum, and we’d all be placed somewhere. The adults loved order and control. They’d be here in an instant.”

“I know but – like, I get it, but –“ no matter what Yutaka tried to say, nothing felt right. “I… I guess you have a point. I just can’t get over the fact that they’re just all, _gone.”_

“There’s a lot of people thinking the same way,” Shinji replied. “But you know what I think? The sooner we try to accept our new fate, the sooner we can start rebuilding. In our own way. With all the stuff in here, I’m sure we can do something. We could get power back in the mall. Maybe a water filtration system?”

“Those are pretty good ideas, actually, but I don’t know if I know enough to try those on my own. I guess that’s where you come in?” Yutaka smiled when Shinji gave him a nod. “Before we get into that, though, I think our first order of business is breakfast… and figuring out what to do with those guys in the cage.”

Shinji nodded, and the two left. He took one last glance back at the workshop, hoping more than ever that he could come to some sort of agreement with Noriko.

\---

“I feel terrible,” Yoshimi whined as soon as she had awakened, her head leaned on Hirono’s shoulder. She dug around in her small handbag for her compact mirror, eyes widening in disgust. “And I look even worse! This is all your fault, you know! If you hadn’t gotten us in this mess, we wouldn’t be stuck here. Who knows what’s going to happen now?”

“If Souma hadn’t been a supreme bitch, we wouldn’t be stuck here,” Hirono muttered, trying to put an arm around her. “Come on, don’t be mad at me-“

“Of course, you won’t take the blame yourself!” Yoshimi pushed her away. “If you hadn’t gotten us into this agreement, we never would have met up with the Rejects, you never would have lost your temper, and we wouldn’t have almost become the Rejects’ target practice. Most of all, we never would have gotten stuck in this fucking cage.”

“Let’s not argue. It’s not going to change anything,” Haruka said to them, sitting on the other side of the cage. “I was thinking that we could negotiate with them – see if we could stay. They seem reasonable, and judging by the smell of food coming from upstairs, they have stuff here too.”

For a minute, it looked like Hirono was going to start an argument with her, but instead, she got off the floor of the cage and walked up to the front, peering upstairs. She could just see the small, in her mind rather pitiful, group, enjoying breakfast.  Her stomach growled. They hadn’t eaten since yesterday morning, which felt like forever now. Was starving them going to be their plan?

“Hey! Are you guys gonna feed us or what?” Hirono asked, rattling the bars as she had the night before. When she was greeted with no response, her temper began to flare again. “Don’t ignore me! You aren’t going to let us starve. You don’t have the guts.”

After several more minutes of rattling the bars, three group members came down, two girls, the one with two braids standing at the front, obviously trying to become leader. The other girl had shorter hair, and her eyes seemed to be filled with misery. She was pathetic. The only one that may have had any actual fighting spirit in him was the boy, wearing a black t-shirt, one earring in his ear, Hirono decided. Still, he didn’t look like too much of a challenge. If this was the best they had, they’d most definitely be screwed if they came face to face with the rejects.

“You asked for breakfast?” The girl with the two braids asked, coming closer to the cage than Hirono thought she would. “Well, before we get to that, we want to talk.”

“Feed us, and then I’ll be interested in talking,” Hirono said roughly. Behind her, Haruka and Yoshimi looked at one another, wishing she could shut up for once.

“You’re the ones in the cage, we aren’t. Either you guys listen to us, or we can let you starve,” the boy said, arms crossed.

“Please, Hirono. Listen,” Yoshimi tried to get over her anger for a minute, placing a hand on her shoulder. Reluctantly, for the sake of Yoshimi, Hirono stayed quiet.

“Good. So, we’ve been discussing your fate amongst ourselves, and have come up with two options,” again, the girl with the two braids took charge. “One, the option I personally would take in your situation, is for you to join us. On our terms.”

“What would those terms be?” Hirono asked. Yoshimi and Haruka breathed a sigh of relief that she didn’t say anything stupid.

“We stand by each other, share what we have, work together and try to survive,” she responded. “If you don’t find those terms reasonable, we could always consider your second option: sending you three back onto the streets. Considering the fact that you and the Rejects don’t seem to be friends, I don’t think that would be the most desirable option.”

Haruka was about to step forward and talk to the beautiful girl with the braids, tell her she agreed with her terms and that please, could they be let out now, but of course, Hirono had to get her word in first.

“Lovely. I guess your strategy is ‘the whole world’s gone to hell, so let’s all sit around and hold hands,’” Hirono chuckled. The girl’s face darkened, and she began to step away from the bars.

“I take it they don’t want to listen,” the boy shrugged, and began to walk off. The other two girls followed him up the stairs, deciding to give them a little more time. In an hour or so, they might reconsider.

Haruka and Yoshimi shot Hirono a glare, and slumped back down on the floor. Hirono decided that for now, it would probably be for the best not to speak for them.

\---

Hirono was not the only person that was trying to be negotiated with. After leaving the three in the cage to stew for a while, Shinji, Yugo and Noriko gathered in the bedding store to decide what to do – were they going to stay, or continue on to the countryside? Within the first few minutes of discussion, Noriko could see that she was in the minority. After the first night at the mall, she wasn’t too sure what direction she wanted to go in anymore.

“I’m just saying, Noriko. It seems pretty risky to pin all our hopes on the countryside, especially when we’ve found something that’s worth staying for here,” Shinji said. “I’ve been talking to that Seto kid. He has lots of stuff in his workshop that could be useful and I seriously think that together, we could get some stuff up and running in this place.”

“See, Noriko?” Yugo looked over at his older sister. “We should stay. I feel safe here as well. I don’t want to run away anymore. I just want to stay here. It’s the first place that has actually felt like home in forever.”

“I understand what you both are saying,” Noriko chewed on her lip, still unsure what to do. “But what about the three in the cage? We still have no idea what will happen with them, and whether they stay or go they could prove danger. If they go, they know where we are. They could bring people back one day. If they stay back, they could betray us one day.”

“Yes, those are options. There’s more of us than there are of them, and I’m trying to figure out some security plans. In the long run, I think that we’re safer here,” Shinji said. He didn’t want to say the next bit, but it had been on his mind all morning. It was time to come clean. “You can leave if you want, but I was thinking of staying behind.”

“Please, Noriko,” Yugo looked up at her, shaking her gently. She sighed, thinking for a while. It had been risky enough going through the streets with Shinji, but without him? It seemed like a recipe for disaster. Yugo seemed desperate to stay behind – would he try to stay back with Shinji too? The idea of the country still seemed desirable, but the mall wasn’t too bad either.

She had made up her mind. Letting out a small sigh, she decided that she would stay. Shinji smiled slightly, glad she had finally come around to the idea. Just before he could reply, his attention was grabbed by a voice coming from the cage.

“Hello? Is anyone willing to talk?” it was the short-haired girl. She seemed the most reasonable out of the three. “I’m willing to discuss our decision again. In a _calm_ manner.”

Shinji and Noriko went down to the cage again, Yukie joining them. Yukie looked at the girl through the bars, ignoring her companions, which reluctantly had stepped away to let her do the talking. She was surprised at how calm she seemed to be, considering the brashness of the two with her. She needed to get better friends, Yukie decided, but kept it to herself, trying to focus.

“Yes?” Yukie looked at her. When she looked in her eyes, she realised she could place her somewhere, but she couldn’t tell yet. She hadn’t gone to their school though, she knew that much.

“We would like to stay with your group. I understand that Shimizu here was rather hostile towards you guys, so forgive us for her behaviour. We don’t have anything to give you now, but I know Shimizu can fight if needed. Yahagi and I can scout around outside for food and supplies. I can cook,” the girl offered. Yukie nodded, taking in her words.

“That could be useful,” Yukie nodded, turning to Shinji and Noriko. “What do you guys think?”

“If you can keep your friends in line, I see no reason why you guys shouldn’t be able to stay,” Shinji said, Noriko nodding. He looked up at the balcony where Yutaka waited by the grille mechanism. As he got ready to raise the grille, a strange noise captured their attention.

“What’s that?” Noriko asked with a frown. “An intruder?”

“It sounds like it’s coming from the sewers,” Yutaka said, raising the grille quickly, remembering that the girl said her friend could fight.

The three girls exited the cage. Immediately, the blonde girl ran off to fix her appearance, while the other two stayed. All of them grabbing potential weapons from the mess that was the old market stalls by the sewers, they descended. Noriko took her flashlight from her belt and turned it on, shining it around the sewer until she finally caught a glimpse of something. A blue hoodie. When the person realised they’d been spotted, they bolted.

“I’ll go after them,” the spiky haired girl said. “Tanizawa, you coming?”

She nodded, and the two quickly climbed out of the sewer and in pursuit of the sewer. The rest of the group went back upstairs, still feeling wary, hoping that they would be able to catch them.

\---

Several minutes later, the two girls hadn’t returned, but the intruder had. Again, Shinji, Noriko and Yukie went down into the sewers, and Noriko turned on the flashlight. Had the intruder caught the girls and returned with some company? Heart racing, Noriko shined the light around the sewer, again seeing the blue hoodie. This time, she also caught their face too. They let out a groan as the light hit their eyes, rushing to shield their face.

“P-please, put the light away,” the intruder said, closing their eyes tightly. Slowly, they raised their hands in the air. “I mean no harm. I’m a friend. My only business is in finding safety.”

Slowly, Noriko lowered the flashlight. Shinji still kept his last-minute weapon, a wooden table leg, raised just in case of an emergency. Yukie took charge, taking the flashlight from Noriko and moving it so she could see the intruder properly, but kept the light out of their eyes. The intruder was a boy, his hair rather messy, eyes afraid. He didn’t look like the type to harm someone, but they all knew looks could be deceiving.

“How did you get away from the girls?” Yukie asked him, gripping the flashlight tightly.

“I hid behind a tree. They ran right past me,” the boy said quietly. Shinji couldn’t help but let out a snort of laughter. “I’m sure they’ll be back later, once they realised they missed me.”

“I suppose so,” Yukie nodded her. She thought of the short-haired girl, and how she wished she had asked for her name before now. Hopefully, she would come back. She wanted to know where she had seen her before. “What is your name?”

“My name is Kazuhiko Yamamoto,” the boy said. “I do not belong to any group, gang, or tribe – whatever they’re calling them these days. I can’t keep up.”

“I guess we can let him in,” Shinji shrugged, “but keep an eye on him. Just in case.”

The three lead Kazuhiko into the mall and up to the café. Yutaka had disappeared into his workshop, but Kaori and Megumi watched them curiously from the balcony. After figuring it was nothing of their concern – Shinji, Yukie and Noriko knew what they were doing – they went back to chatting, in their own little world. It was the only thing left to really pass the hours with.

\---

Hirono was furious when she returned to the mall with Haruka that night. How had the intruder manage to flee so quickly? They had searched all around town, through the wooded area behind the mall, hell, they had even almost into the Rejects, who were having an average day in their world. The two had crouched behind a stack of crates together, watching as they burnt down one of the junior high schools in the area – probably their own, they presumed. Once the Rejects had left to go celebrate, the sun had gone down and they decided to head back, doubting they’d have any more luck in the dark.

They entered the mall again through the sewer entrance, the mall completely dark save for some candlelight coming from the café. The two climbed up the stairs to see the entire group crowded around a table, a stack of plates scraped clean at the end of it. The person that was the centre of the group’s attention was a boy… in a blue hoodie. He was smiling at Megumi, who had handed him a coin several seconds earlier.

“I used to do this one a lot before…” the boy trailed off. Everyone knew what he meant. He continued on with what he was doing, holding up the coin. “So, now you see it…. Now you don’t.”

He placed the coin on the table, covered it with his hands, and when he removed them, it was gone. He held up both hands to show that they were empty. Yugo, the youngest member of the group, was the most amused by the trick.

“Whoa!” Yugo’s eyes widened. “How did you do that?”

“Yeah, how did you do that?” Hirono asked. “This isn’t your first disappearing act, is it, _intruder?”_

“Hirono, Yamamoto means no harm,” Yoshimi piped up from her seat beside the boy himself. “He’s really nice, actually. This is the most fun I’ve had since we actually had good TV.”

“Who knows what his true intentions may be?” Hirono frowned. “I don’t trust him.”

“He’s a lot nicer than you were when you first arrived,” Megumi said, slowly but surely losing her confidence as she went on. “Um… I mean… nothing.”

“Yeah, that’s what I’d expect,” Hirono smirked, Megumi sinking lower in her seat. “Now, back to the intruder. Do you guys know how stupid you are? He could be-“

“Shimizu, that’s enough,” Yukie stood up, walking towards her. “We know what we’re doing. Now, I think we should all go to bed. It’s been a long day.”

Noriko nodded, leading Yugo a protesting Yugo out of the café. Kaori and Megumi followed, while Hirono didn’t move at all. She only seemed to soften when Yoshimi took her hand, telling her to just leave it for tonight. Reluctantly, she left the café, but not before promising she was going to keep a look out for anything suspicious. Eventually, it was just Yukie and Kazuhiko in the café.

“I’ll show you to one of the rooms. Thank you, again for this. You really livened up the place,” Yukie smiled at him, leading him through the mall. Kazuhiko just shook his head.

“It’s fine. I should be thanking you all,” Kazuhiko said. “You guys let me stay. You shared your food with me, and you’re giving me a room.”

“Still, while you think it wasn’t much, it did mean a lot,” Yukie stopped in front of a store on the downstairs level, the hobby shop. The intricate models it used to display had been either smashed or taken months ago, and the shop window was smashed, but it was in rather good condition compared to some of the other shops in the mall. “Here it is. I hope it’s okay.”

Kazuhiko nodded, thanked her, and Yukie left. He took a seat on the mattress that had been placed there for him, looking down at the blankets as guilt washed over him. He didn’t want to do this, but he knew he had to. He was exhausted, and he didn’t want to go without explanation, but Sakura and Maki would be waiting for him. She would be exhausted, probably starving, and worried sick. He had to go.

Once he was sure everyone in the mall was asleep, he left his room, creeping up the stairs and into the café. He found the kitchen easily. Hesitating for a moment, he opened the pantry, putting two cans in his rucksack. After that, he went down into the sewers, climbed the ladder, and disappeared into the night.

\---

The next morning, Yukie and the rest of the group were crowded around the pantry in disbelief. When Kazuhiko hadn’t appeared for breakfast, Hirono had immediately jumped to the conclusion that he’d left. Yukie had decided to wait a little longer, figuring that maybe he had slept in, but eventually, they had all decided to check on him. He was gone. After a thorough search of the mall that provided no results, they had decided to check the food store. Two cans were missing. It may not have seemed like a lot, but to the group, who were already not doing the best in the food situation, it was everything.

Yukie slammed the pantry doors shut with such ferocity that Yugo and Megumi jumped back. Hirono looked at her, giving her a look that just screamed, ‘I told you so.’ Yukie immediately looked away. She couldn’t believe that the girl had been right!

“I can’t believe it! We invited him in, gave him our food, home and trust… and he just leaves!” Yukie yelled in frustration. More than anything, she was worried about what this would end up meaning in the long run. Inviting Kazuhiko in and him leaving like that was bound to have some consequences for the group.

“I told you that he wasn’t to be trusted,” Hirono said, making Yukie feel even worse than she already did. “Now, who knows where he is – or what he is planning? For all we know, he could be leading the Hornets to us right now! Even worse – the Rejects?”

“Are the Rejects coming?!” Yugo asked Noriko in horror. She just pulled him close. She couldn’t lie to him or try to reassure him. If the gangs ended up coming, it would be far too cruel.

The all too familiar sound of something in the sewers grabbed their attention.

“Looks like it,” Hirono said. “Everyone, grab something you can use as a weapon – or at the very least, hit someone with.”

Everyone did as Hirono ordered. She grabbed a knife from the kitchen. Noriko, panicking, grabbed her flashlight, Yugo hiding behind her. Shinji took his table leg, and Yutaka hid behind him. Kaori and Megumi struggled with a chair between them, while Yukie grabbed a heavy dish. As the door opened, they braced themselves for a fight. A fight they probably wouldn’t win.

Kazuhiko was back. With him was a girl, his arm wrapped around her. She held something in her hands, a small bundle, that they couldn’t recognise until she came closer.

“A baby,” Megumi stated. Slowly, she and Kaori shakily lowered the chair.

“Everyone, this is Sakura Ogawa,” Kazuhiko began to climb the stairs with her, “and Maki. Our daughter.”

For a moment, everyone just stared, having no idea what to say. Yukie tried to break the silence with the first words she could think of.

“Well, Ogawa? Do you want to stay?” Yukie asked her, lowering the dish. She hoped everyone else would lower their weapons, but only Noriko put down her pitiful little flashlight. Sakura nodded at them quickly.

“Yes. Please,” Sakura said, voice soft. Maki stirred a little in her arms.

The group looked amongst each other, lost. Everyone had something different on their minds. Here was a family, the same age as them. A baby – the future. One thing they all knew, however, was that this was decision that they all had to make together.


	3. Chapter Three

Chapter Three

The group looked down at the family in front of them, frozen. A family, a rarity these days – more like an anomaly. Eyes on the baby in Sakura’s arms, Noriko realised that she may be one of the only people in the whole world that actually had two parents that were still alive, together and wanted to raise her. The baby was a sign for the future – that despite how low everything seemed right now, how the world seemed to be filled with suffering, blood and war, there was a small shred of light left in the darkness. After them, there would be someone left, and they needed to make her a future better than this.

“No. Absolutely not,” Hirono was the first to break the silence. Almost everyone looked at her as if she was a heartless monster, but she defended herself with ease. “Before anyone asks, I’m not saying that because Yamamoto outsmarted me yesterday. I’m saying it because it isn’t practical. We barely have enough food or water for ourselves, we barely have ourselves together yet, and it’s a security risk. Come on, a baby? All that crying is just begging for a visit from the Rejects. And we don’t have stuff for it. I don’t think bottles and nappies are just going to pop out of anywhere.”

Some of the group nodded, even those who wanted Sakura to stay, like Haruka and Yukie. She had made some good points, but still, they wanted the family to stay. It seemed wrong to turn away people who needed them so much.

“Look, I’m sure we can get around that. For now, we should let them rest. Look at Ogawa, she looks exhausted,” Yukie took charge, it feeling completely natural for her. “We’ll have a vote tonight, in the furniture store. Majority rules.”

That seemed to satisfy Hirono for the most part, so with only minor complaining about the wasting of food, she walked off hand in hand with Yoshimi. After insisting that Kazuhiko go and rest, Sakura followed Haruka and Yukie into the café for breakfast, realising how hungry she was now that food had been offered to her. Kaori, Megumi and Yutaka left for their own little worlds again, while Shinji and Noriko stood at the stairs with Kazuhiko, who hadn’t moved yet. Both of them had their own opinions about what should happen to the three, and weren’t sure if they could find a middle ground.

“When was the last time you had a hot meal?” Yukie asked, helping the girl into a chair.

“I honestly can’t remember. Probably just before the power went out,” Sakura shrugged, gently rocking Maki. After the power had gone out, that had been the final nail in the coffin for many people out in the world. It had told them what they had been trying to fight for so long – the adults were not returning.

“We’ll have to change that then, won’t we?” Yukie gave her a smile and then disappeared into the kitchen.

Sakura looked around the café briefly, taking in the the bright colours of the room, the posters on the wall that reminded her of better times, and the few decorations that hadn’t been wrecked. Kazuhiko had been right when he had told her about this place – it really did feel like a home. Sure, it still had the wear and tear that reminded them of their ruined society, but you wouldn’t be able to escape that wherever you went. She did feel safe here, though, and that was what mattered the most. She hoped desperately that they would be able to stay.

In the kitchen, Haruka and Yukie worked together as if they had known each other for ages instead of just a few days. Haruka was sure that if the pandemic hadn’t of struck and they’d all gone on to high school, she and Yukie could have become close friends if they’d ended up at the same one. Yukie glanced at her every now and then as she stirred the pot, still so sure she could recognise her from somewhere before the virus. She was the type of person you’d remember in some way or another.

Every time she felt Yukie looking at her, Haruka couldn’t help but blush. For a split second, she wanted to ask why, but just decided to let the moment pass. She didn’t get why someone as beautiful as Yukie would constantly be looking at _her_ of all people, but she’d go with it. When the girl finally spoke, she almost dropped the can she was holding, composing herself at the last moment.

“Did you play volleyball, before?” Yukie asked, getting a plate ready. Confused, Haruka nodded. “Did your school play at the championship last year, against mine?”

“Yeah, we did,” Haruka said, the memory coming back to her vividly. Yukie’s eyes shone with recognition as the memory played out in her own mind. Their school had lost, and while it had been rather disappointed, she couldn’t help but meet the eyes of a girl amongst the crowd celebrating her win. Her eyes shone with happiness, but she wasn’t bragging, just happy to be in the moment with her team. Yukie thought they had deserved the win, based even on that girl’s performance alone.

“You were one of the best attackers I’ve ever seen,” Yukie blurted out, trying to push away the memory. Thoughts of before were never helpful. Haruka’s eyes shone as they did back at the volleyball game, pink filling her cheeks.

“Thank you,” Haruka stammered out. She missed the volleyball court almost as much as she missed her family. There was nothing like getting out there, working as one with your team, letting out all your frustrations, and the feeling of being _part_ of something. At times, she felt dumb for missing a sport so much, but she just couldn’t help it. Her smile faded. “But playing volleyball isn’t gonna help us in the apocalypse, I guess.”

“Oh, I guess,” Yukie mumbled, feeling guilty. She’d obviously unearthed something painful – why hadn’t she thought? “We should go serve Ogawa.”

Haruka nodded, taking a plate of hot food out to the girl while Yukie got her a glass of water. Sakura quietly thanked the girls as they sat down opposite her, reaching for her glass before remembering she was holding Maki.

“I can hold her while you eat, if you like,” Haruka asked her, quickly adding, “I… I mean, if it’s okay.”

Sakura nodded and without a word, handed Maki over to Haruka. Haruka took her carefully, remembering how she had held the babies of family members in the past, looking down at her sleeping peacefully. It hit her that Maki would never know what it would be like to grow up in the world on the past. She wouldn’t know what it would be like to visit grandparents, get taught by teachers with actual university degrees, or live in peace. They had to make a future for her… but where would they start?

“She’s beautiful,” Haruka smiled, wanting to focus on something other than her anxiety, even if it only lasted for a moment.

“Thank you. Kazuhiko says she looks like his mom – I can’t see it honestly, but maybe when she’s a little older,” Sakura laughed slightly. “We wouldn’t have made it this far without him. He’s looked after me ever since this whole nightmare started. I was worried he would leave after he found out I was pregnant, but he didn’t. I owe both of our lives to him, pretty much. I had no idea what to do.”

“He sounds like a great man,” Yukie smiled at her. Sakura nodded.

“He is. On the way here, he told me he had stolen from you guys, taken some food for me. He regrets it. He just needed some food for the journey… and Kaz has never been too good with words or asking,” Sakura shook her head. “I hope your group doesn’t hold it against him. We really, really do want to stay. He’ll never do it again.”

Yukie nodded, but couldn’t say anything. If she reassured her, that would just be too cruel. Tonight, they’d all have to find out if the group had forgiven Kazuhiko.

\---

Shinji, Noriko and Kazuhiko sat on the stairs together, the two group members trying to figure out what to say. Shinji was against the family staying – not because of the baby exactly, but due to how the food they had would be stretched even more, and the fact Kazuhiko had stolen from them. Noriko was for the family staying, figuring they could worth through whatever problems arose. They couldn’t turn away the _future._

“Are you sure there isn’t anywhere else out there for you three?” Shinji asked Kazuhiko. “We barely have it together at the moment, we only arrived a few days ago. There might be somewhere else out there that’s safer. They might know a bit more about babies than we do as well.”

“This is the only place that I’ve found that actually feels like home. It’s rare to find a place like this that isn’t completely trashed, and a reasonably big group that was just wants to survive instead of tear the world to pieces,” Kazuhiko said. “There’s no one else out there. All we had for the longest time was each other. Then, the gangs started closing in not too long after Maki was born. It’s only been two weeks.”

“That sounds rough,” Noriko said quietly, giving him a nod. Shinji couldn’t help but feel a little bad for the guy, but everyone these days had a sad story to tell. It was the way of the world.

“If we end up voting to let you stay, how do we know you aren’t going to get into our food store again?” Shinji asked. Noriko wanted to say something to him about the comment, but decided to keep quiet. He did have a point. The cans Kazuhiko had taken had meant a lot to them.

“I’m sorry about that. I should have apologised earlier. I only did it for Sakura. We needed food for the journey here,” Kazuhiko said. “I should have told you guys… I should have explained. I’m just not too good with words… or explaining. I swear I’ll never do it again.”

It was clear neither of them truly believed him, but he expected it. It would take a while to earn the group’s trust if they were able to stay, but he was willing to work as hard as he could to obtain it. Sensing that Noriko and Shinji had places they wanted to be, he dismissed himself to go see how Sakura was. Finding the café empty save for an empty glass and a plate scraped clean, he began to peer into the shops on the top floor. It wasn’t that difficult, seeing as most of the windows were smashed.

After several shops, he found Sakura in the bedding store, asleep. Yukie sat on a chair beside the bed, Maki in the basket they’d brought along beside her.

“Is she okay?” Kazuhiko asked, keeping his voice down. He desperately wanted rest too, but he didn’t want to relax until he knew Sakura would be all right and they would be able to stay with the group.

“She seems to be. She ate all her breakfast, and I took her to lay down after she said she was tired. I don’t know what is, and I don’t mean to worry you, but something just feels a little… off,” Yukie frowned, reaching out a hand to feel her forehead. “She is a little warn.”

“I’m sure she’ll be okay,” Kazuhiko said, taking a seat beside her. He hoped he wasn’t in denial. “She only had the baby two weeks ago. She’s probably just recovering and tired…”

Yukie looked over at him, then back at Sakura, her almost eerily still. For one of the first times in her life, she actually was hoping to be wrong.

\---

While the majority of the group had more pressing issues on their hands, Yoshimi had taken it upon herself to do some interior decorating. She had moved into the boutique on the ground floor of the mall, Hirono sticking around long enough to help her move a bed into the room. Now, she was on her own in the middle of the mess, and was trying to figure out a way to make it feel more like home. She started by picking up the clothes off the ground, keeping all the ones she liked and tossing the ones she didn’t into the corner to deal with later, and while it looked cleaner, it still didn’t feel… right.

Frowning to herself as she looked around the room, an idea quickly hit her. She walked around the mall, rounding up some cushions and some candles, then returned to her room. At the same time, she noticed Haruka coming by. Hirono knew the girl better than she did, being the one to recruit her and all, but she seemed nice enough.

“Tanizawa!” Yoshimi called out, the girl quickly turning around to face her. “Do you have a minute? I need help with something.”

“I was just gonna get started on the dishes because Utsumi and Nakagawa are busy with Ogawa, but I’m sure I have a minute,” Haruka said, wondering what problem Yoshimi could possibly have. When a bunch of colourful, fluffy cushions were thrust into her hands, she was more confused than ever.

“Oh, good. I need some interior decorating help,” Yoshimi gave her a smile. Haruka wanted to be annoyed – couldn’t she be helping out with dishes or something, for instance – but she couldn’t. Yoshimi just had one of those nice smiles, the type you always wanted to see, the type that inspired others to smile too. Haruka couldn’t fault her for that.

Haruka began to help her set up the cushions while Yoshimi fixed up the candles, taking down a few of the posters on the wall. They weren’t exactly ugly, they just made her mind return to thoughts of the old world. The models in the photographs were all dead. The clothes had lost all significance. There was no more luxury in an expensive dress.

When she heard some laughter in Yoshimi’s room as she passed, Hirono frowned and stopped in the doorway. She watched as Yoshimi whispered something to Haruka, making her laugh more than she had ever had hear her laugh in all the time they’d been travelling together after the virus. Yoshimi looked happier than she had seen her look in ages as well.

A sharpness in her chest caught her attention. She tried her hardest to discard the thought, knowing it was incredibly useless, but it stayed around despite her attempts. She wished she’d be able to make Yoshimi smile like Haruka did.

“What are you guys doing?” Hirono asked. At the sound of her rough voice, the bubble was burst. Both Yoshimi and Haruka looked at her, face serious again, but it was obvious Yoshimi was fighting to retain her happiness.

“Oh, Hirono,” Yoshimi shot her a smile, walking over to kiss her on the cheek. “I would have asked you for help, but you seemed like you were busy. I asked Haruka for help fixing up our room.”

Hirono nodded and looked back and forth between the two. She had the slightest feeling that at the moment, she wasn’t really wanted. With a sigh, she stepped back towards the exit of the store.

“I guess I better leave you to it then.”

\---

Despite what Shinji had told him, Yutaka couldn’t just leave the radio, especially now that the other boy was too busy to tell him otherwise. The radio had been his only comfort in the world after his parents had died and told him to come here. He fiddled with it lonely day after lonely day, hoping that today would be the day that he got a response. All he got back was static. It was some of the loneliest times he could ever imagine, hoping day after day that there would be someone out there that would be able to save you, only to be greeted with nothing. Again, as he played with the radio’s dials he was greeted with static, but this time, he knew he was not completely alone.

Within the span of a few days, he’d gotten a decent-sized group here with him. He had wanted some more people in the mall with him, but he hadn’t counted on a group of these numbers. Maybe one or two people, with similar interests to him, that he’d be able to trust and survive with. While he could make traps with his electronics if he desired, he knew they wouldn’t be able to protect him forever. He wanted people around him that could fight if needed.

Hirono and Shinji fit that category, him presuming they may have been in several schoolyard fights and Hirono in some fights a little more serious, but the rest he wasn’t too sure about. Already, the world seemed ten times more dramatic. With a family with a baby potentially in tow now, things only seemed to be readying to get more intense. Overall, Yutaka was torn. He was grateful for the company, but at the same time, wished he was still on his own… or at least, the group was smaller.

“Let’s not worry about all that now,” Yutaka said to himself. He put the radio down carefully and did a quick scan of his surroundings. When the coast was clear, he got up off his chair and walked over to a large storage cabinet near his bed. Many people would presume it was filled with electronic parts left over from before the virus, and it had been, until he had deposited them to a new home on the ground. It was now filled with something a lot better.

He took a key out of the pocket of his brown jacket and unlocked the cabinet. Even though he knew it was all there, his eyes still widened when he saw all the food. Canes lined row after row of the cabinet, there rows of them behind the cans at the front as well. On the bottom shelf were a few bottles of soft drink, mixed in with a few of water, and the special food he had tried to save for when he really needed it – potato chips, candies, chocolate and the like. He was trying to make that stuff last the longest if he could help it.

He took a can of pears and prepared to lock up the cabinet again, when he heard a noise behind him that made his blood run cold.

“Hey! What’s that?”

When he turned around, almost dropping the can, he saw Megumi and Kaori there. They looked at the cabinet, an absolute gold mine in their world, with wide eyes. He could see in their eyes that they were imagining what it would all taste like. They probably hadn’t seen so much food in one place since before the virus had struck. He desperately hoped they wouldn’t get the attention of the rest of the group. His stash – and he himself – would be history!

“N-nothing,” Yutaka stuttered. As he expected, the girls did not go away. Instead, they moved a little closer to the cabinet, making Yutaka realise he needed to start thinking a lot quicker. “Don’t tell anyone. Please. It can be our secret, okay?”

“Why should we keep your secret?” Megumi asked. Kaori looked at her in surprise, not expecting her friend to be so bold, but put it down to hunger and the shock of seeing many rarities in front of her eyes. “I think Hirono’s right down the hall. She might be interested in this…”

“Um.. uh…” Yutaka tried desperately to think of a compromise. If Hirono found out about the stash, he doubted it would end well for any of them. In the end, he panicked, saying something he regretted right away but knew would save him… at least for now. “Take whatever you want!”

“What do you think, Kaori?” Megumi asked her friend, her gaze immediately going to the bottom shelf. Kaori picked out a pack of her favourite candies, and Megumi grabbed a chocolate bar. Smiling at one another, they left the room.

Yutaka let out a deep sigh of relief, putting the tin of pears back in the cabinet. He definitely wasn’t hungry anymore.

\---

In the evening, just before dinner, the group decided to hold the vote. The furniture store was the perfect place for meetings, Yukie had decided, with there plenty of places to sit, and a lot of space. Haruka and Yoshimi had cleaned it up after finishing with the boutique, lighting a few candles and arranging the seats. Hirono had come in halfway through, face sour, and had settled herself down in the largest armchair in the shop. Slowly but surely, the rest of the group began to come in.

Sakura and Kazuhiko arrived last, Maki in his arms. He gently helped her into a chair before taking a seat beside her. He looked exhausted, his worry the only thing keeping him awake. Realising everyone was now there, Yukie was about to explain the vote, when Yoshimi got up, claiming she had to get something. Several minutes later, she came back with a giant piece of cardboard, setting it down on the coffee table.

“It’s a… cardboard television,” Yukie raised an eyebrow. Yoshimi gave her a nod, it obvious she was being completely serious.

“Yeah. They had a few real ones there too, but I couldn’t carry them. Most of them were smashed up, anyway,” Yoshimi said, her voice having an air of sadness to it. The majority of the group were still quite confused. “It just feels right to have a TV there. Makes it feel like this is a living room from before, you know?”

“Yahagi,” Shinji sighed, wanting to get the vote over with and have dinner, “even if you brought in a real TV, it wouldn’t have worked. There’s no electricity.”

Yoshimi nodded slightly, eyes sad. No one had seemed to understand the point of what she was trying to do at all. Haruka gently put her hand on hers, which only made Hirono, from her spot across the room in the armchair, become more annoyed.

“I’ll explain the vote now,” Yukie rushed to fill the room’s silence. “We will vote by a show of hands. Everyone gets one vote, save foe Yamamoto and Ogawa, of course. They aren’t part of our group yet. Does that seem fair?”

“Wait,” Hirono frowned, in the mood for an argument, “does he get to vote too? He’s only eight.” She pointed at Yugo, the boy and Noriko frowning at her.

“He’s ten, and yes, of course he gets a vote,” Noriko said. “He lives here too.”

“Let’s move on with the vote,” Yukie said quickly, wanting to diffuse any possible fight. She looked over at Sakura nervously, noticing she was shaking lightly, her face pale. She hoped desperately she’d be able to stay. If she was ill here, they’d at least be able to try and help, but out in the streets, constantly on the run, there was barely any chance of her being able to get better. “All those in favour  of Yamamoto and Ogawa staying?”

Yukie raised her hand as soon as she finished speaking, followed by Haruka and Yugo. Noriko raised her hand last, looking around the group in horror when she realised how many wanted them to go.

“Shinji?” she looked at her old neighbour in surprise, “you aren’t on our side?”

“I’m sorry, Nakagawa. It’s just too much of a risk. The less of us there are, the more likely we won’t get caught… and a baby? It just heightens the risk,” Shinji explained. Yukie looked down at the floor, unable to stop herself from feeling guilt. Despite the fact she knew what the answer was going to be, she still had to ask the question.

“All those in favour of Yamamoto and Ogawa not staying?” Yukie asked. The hands of the rest of the group shot up in the air. She looked over at the family with sadness in her eyes.

Kazuhiko helped Sakura to her feet and began to head for the exit. Hirono was surprised he was leaving without a fight, but supposed it was for the best. It would only make things more complicated. She would need to get the argument she wanted somewhere else. Before they could completely leave the furniture store, however, Kazuhiko turned around. A small smirk crossed Hirono’s lips. _Ah, here it comes…_

“I just wanted to say thank you for your time. Thank you for the meal and the bed, we really appreciate it,” Kazuhiko nodded at them before turning to Sakura. “And… I’m sorry for disappointing you, Sakura. I thought I found the place, but I guess we’ll keep looking. Good luck, guys.”

“Stay safe out there,” Yukie mumbled, feeling absolutely terrible. Kazuhiko nodded, lead Sakura out of the furniture store, and they continued on their way.

The group returned to the furniture store. No one spoke. Some of them were wondering if they had made the right decision. Because of the silence, they heard the noise easily. A dull thump, something they would have easily missed if they had been talking. Fearing the worst, Yukie rushed outside, the rest of the group following. Sakura was slumped on the ground, not responding to anything Kazuhiko said to her. Hirono looked down at the scene, immediately sneering.

“Well, wasn’t that _convenient?”_


	4. Chapter Four

Chapter Four

After Hirono had said her piece, Yukie was the first to spring into action. She ran down the stairs to help Kazuhiko, but none of the group followed. They remained on the balcony, staring down at the scene, not moving until Yukie told them what to do. As soon as she started ordering people around, Hirono left. They wouldn’t want her to help anyway, and even if she did, it wasn’t like she’d actually bother to do anything.

“Come on, don’t just stand there everyone! Tanizawa, fix up the bed in the hobby shop again. Minami, Eto, take Maki while Yamamoto and I get Ogawa settled. Seto, can you get us some water and a thermometer, if you can find one?” as soon as they were given their tasks, they all dispersed. Shinji, Yugo and Yoshimi decided to stay away from the action, while Noriko followed Yukie, hoping there was some way she could help.

Kazuhiko and Yukie carried Sakura into the hobby store, laying her down on the mattress. Haruka stepped aside, watching nervously alongside Noriko as Yukie took her pulse. She was still alive, but Yukie feared that things would only get worse in the next few hours. No one knew what was wrong with her yet, and unless a doctor popped out of nowhere or they found a way to diagnose her themselves, who knew what would happen? Even if they could figure out what was wrong, they were only children. If it was anything serious, what could they possibly do?

“Do you think things will be okay?” Haruka whispered to Noriko, despite the fact she knew what the answer was at the moment. She just couldn’t deal with the mumblings of Yukie anymore, or Kazuhiko’s desperate words.

“I don’t know,” Noriko said, eyes filled with pain. “I hope so, somehow. We don’t know her well but still… I don’t want to see anyone else die. There’s been too many.”

Haruka nodded. Even after all the adults had gone, the gangs had remained, numbers growing. That had only continued to add to the death toll. Even though the virus was gone and their parents with it, it didn’t mean that the risk of death was gone.

\---

With everyone either busy with the Sakura situation or trying to stay out of the way of it, Hirono figured it was the right time to put her plan into action. She was situated downstairs, across the hall from the hobby shop, in the old grocery store. Of course, she wasn’t looking for food. The grocery store was long ago looted, she presumed, probably even before Yutaka showed up. It had to have been. There was no way Yutaka could have eaten all this food himself in this period of time, and Hirono doubted the guy was gutsy enough to have a stash. That didn’t mean she wasn’t, however, but she didn’t have any food to stash away – another thing she considered the fault of the Rejects.

She had to come up with something though, something to give her a one-up on the rest of the group, just in case she needed to run at some point. Judging by how pathetic the group was, she may have to split eventually, whether she just got sick of them or if she was able to make an escape during an attack. As soon as the group had all split, she’d managed to come up with something. Why not stash away some water? Water was one of the rare things in the world more coveted than food.

Getting the bucket through the mall had been the hardest part. She’d managed to get herself into the grocery store with some struggle, spilling several drops and having to hide a few times when people came and went from the store. Eventually, she had made it, now sitting in the back of the store with some empty water bottles. She’d managed to crack open one of the lockers, which confirmed the fact that this was the perfect place for her stash. No one would think of looking _here_ for anything.

She carefully got to work filling the water bottles, trying to keep her hands as still as possible. Everything  seemed to be going well until, unfortunately, she almost went through the roof at the sound of a noise behind her. At the very last second, she managed to save the bucket from tipping over, but not the bottle. At the sound of it clattering to the floor, she cringed.

“Hey, Hirono, you haven’t happened to see-“ It was Yutaka, who upon seeing the bucket, stopped right in his tracks. Hirono tried to fight surprise from appearing on her face, focusing all of her energy on trying to appear as intimidating as possible. Yutaka would be easy to get rid of.

“What do you fucking want?” Hirono muttered. Yutaka didn’t seem to register her question, eyes fixed on the bucket.

“You do know that they’re gonna notice that a lot of water is missing from the tank, right?” Yutaka said, trying his hardest to remain strong. What he needed was now completely forgotten, Hirono deciding not to bring it up. It would only make her look scared, she decided.

“It’s up to you to make sure that they don’t notice,” Hirono simply said, voice icy. “It would be a shame if you _fell in_ the water tank when you went to check it next time, wouldn’t it?”

“I… I guess,” Yutaka stuttered, and that was that. Hirono watched briefly as he left, then returned to filling her bottles. Her relief didn’t last for long, however, as she heard another voice coming towards her.

“Hey, Seto, you haven’t happened to see Hirono around have you?” Yoshimi asked. Hirono let out a small sigh of relief when she realised it was only her girlfriend. She knew how to keep her quiet if she happened to catch her.

“Um… uh…” Yutaka stammered. Hirono’s eyes hardened, but she relaxed when he caught himself. “You do know Minami and Eto are walking by with some of your clothes?”

“Wait, what?!” Hirono couldn’t help but let out a light chuckle. God, Yoshimi was so easily distracted. “Hey! What are you doing with my clothes?!”

Hirono laughed and reached for another water bottle. For now, it was safe to say she was not going to be interrupted.

\---

Back in the hobby shop, things continued to look bleak. In vain, Yukie had searched the room she slept in, the pharmacy, but all the shelves were stripped bare. Even if they did have something, there was no way of knowing if the drugs could help Sakura. She took a seat back down next to Noriko, trying not to look at Kazuhiko’s mournful face as he gripped his girlfriend’s hands,. She could tell that if she died, he wouldn’t be the same. Even though she barely knew him, she could easily tell he absolutely adored her.

“I found the thermometer,” Yutaka said as he arrived. Behind him, Shinji grudgingly carried a bowl of water, placing it down beside the bed. “Also, I found this in the bookstore. I thought it might be able to help.”

“Thanks,” Noriko gently took the book from him. It was a rather thick book about medicine, probably the best resource they had at the moment. She carefully began to search through the book, hoping she could help in some way. Kazuhiko moved back a little as Yukie checked Sakura’s temperature, glad to let someone who seemed to know what they were doing take control.

“Her temperature is dangerously high,” Yukie said. “Seto, did you happen to see Eto and Minami out there? I sent them off to get washcloths. I thought Tanizawa might be better at looking after Maki.”

“We’re here,” Kaori and Megumi said in unison. Behind them was Yoshimi, who snatched a rather ugly purple and red dress from their hands. At the sight of her, looking absolutely miserable, Yukie sighed. This was only going to add more drama to the situation.

“Clothes?” Yukie frowned. Immediately, she regretted her words, realising how ungrateful she seemed.

“At least let me rip them up,” Yoshimi mumbled. “They are _mine_ after all. Just go away.”

Kaori and Megumi quickly left, Yoshimi taking a seat on an old crate. She hesitated when Noriko handed a pair of scissors to her, eventually taking a deep breath and slicing through the fabric. Yukie took the rags with a small smile, grateful that Yoshimi had stepped up and obeyed instructions for a change.

“Help me cool her down,” Yukie said, handing some strips to Kazuhiko. He quickly stepped into action. “I’m not too sure what we should do yet, considering we don’t know what’s wrong with her, but for now all I recommend is continuously dabbing her forehead with cold water, taking her temperature every thirty minutes, and having someone with her at all time, just to monitor her condition.”

“You sound like one of those doctors on TV, Utsumi,” Yoshimi smiled. For a brief moment, everyone looked at her as if she had five arms. “I loved those medical dramas. The one where the doctor fell in love with her patient was so cute. I wish I got to see how it ended, but it got taken off TV. They aren’t there anymore… I don’t know what they’re doing… how they’re feeling. I miss them.”

Again, everyone stared at her for a moment. Noriko tried to find a shred of sympathy for the girl despite finding her remark unneeded, but it was obvious Yukie was losing patience.

“My mom was a doctor before all this. She gave her life trying to save people when the virus struck. As a result of being so close to it all the time, she was one of the first to die,” Yukie said, gripping one of the wet rags tightly in her hand. “Is that real enough for you, Yahagi?”

“Gee, no need to be so sensitive,” Yoshimi snapped and quickly, she was gone.

Noriko desperately flipped through the medical book, hoping that she’d be able to find _something._ They couldn’t lose someone else.

\---

The mood at dinner was a rather grim one. The only sound was the clanking of bowls and the tapping of cutlery against them, no one knowing what to say. Even Hirono and Yoshimi kept quiet. Considering the fact that Noriko hadn’t joined them at the table yet, they all figured that there had been no results and if anything, Sakura was only getting worse. When the girl arrived at the café towards the end of the meal, a place set up for her beside Yugo, Haruka made the mistake of getting hopeful. Once she saw the look of utter defeat on her face, her own face fell as well.

“Nothing?” Haruka asked her quietly. Noriko nodded solemnly as she took a seat next to her brother. She placed the medical book beside her on the table. She had looked through quite a lot, but with how thick the book was, it still looked like she had barely made a dent of it at all.

“Do you want me to go sit with Ogawa, or is Yamamoto with her?” Yukie asked, placing her plate aside. “I’ll go bring him something to eat, he must be starving.”

“I thought Yamamoto was here in the café with you guys,” Noriko said, confusion crossing her face. She looked around the table, hoping that Kazuhiko would pipe up and say he was there, but nothing. The only people that were missing were Sakura, which was to be expected, and Kazuhiko, which was probably worrying.

“Maybe he’s in his room,” Megumi offered. She was met with nothing but a scoff from Hirono.

“I doubt it,” Hirono muttered. “You know what I think? He’s seen that his girlfriend is on her last legs, doesn’t think he can look after the kid, and split. Free childcare and someone to dispose of the body – what more could he want?”

“Hirono!” Haruka looked over at her, eyes wide. “I’m sure that isn’t the case. From the way Ogawa described him, he doesn’t sound like the type to do something like that.”

“Sure, maybe he wouldn’t have before, but people have changed now,” Hirono frowned. “It doesn’t exactly make it right – it’s a fucking cowards move, dumping his dead girlfriend and kid on us – but it’s the way people are now. Just think about it for a minute – why else would he just leave the mall without telling anyone?”

Everyone had to admit Hirono was making sense, but they still didn’t want to believe it. Kazuhiko had to return. He just had to.


	5. Chapter Five

Chapter Five

It seemed the safest to start scouting at night. Kazuhiko had left the mall at around seven, figuring that it was the perfect time to get going. This was around the times that the gangs went back to their bases for the night, tending to their wounds and burying their dead, or partying, if they were from one of the richer gangs. As he crept through the city, he heard the dull sound of music in the distance. The town’s gambling den, run by Niida’s Circus, a group of eccentric kids with a rather disgusting leader, was still open, it seemed. He ignored the sounds and descended deeper into the quiet.

As Kazuhiko got further out of the city, past the looted shops, the dull office buildings and the disaster that was the train station, the warehouses began to appear. He slipped through the bushes, keeping the eye out for the slightest noise. He had two knives in his belt, his standard weapon, but he wasn’t sure if he could will himself to use them if the time came. If he got into a fight with someone from the Rejects or the Hornets, he knew it would be over. The knives were no match for a gun. After almost a year living in this world, they’d probably be a decent shot by now.

The sound of sirens made Kazuhiko’s heart raced. They were coming closer, which confused him for a moment, before he reminded himself that he needed to move… and fast. He looked for an entrance into the nearest warehouse, trying his luck through a smashed window. He heard his pant leg rip as he hauled himself in, but none of the glass pieced the skin. The sound of sirens had become a little muffled now that he had entered, making him feel like he had at least ten or so minutes before they got dangerously close.

He retrieved a flashlight from his belt and began to walk down the aisles. Valuable items, such as food, batteries, video game consoles, stereos and water were obviously long gone, but what he wanted was something he doubted was in high demand. He found a box with something white poking out of it, his eyes shining with hope, but it faded away once realising it was only a package of bedsheets. He quickly moved on, knowing they had no use for them back at the mall.

The next aisle was more helpful. The sight of four overturned prams, cast aside by looters who obviously found the items useless, indicated that this was the right aisle. He wanted to take a pram, but it would be too risky to carry back, especially with the Rejects on their way. He brushed one of the prams aside and knelt down beside a pile of boxes. Hurriedly, he stuffed packs of diapers and a few tins of formula into his bag, knowing he didn’t have much time left.

After collecting two bottles to add to his loot, Kazuhiko arranged himself a hiding place. The Rejects sirens were ridiculously close now. He didn’t know what they could want here, seeing as they would have to know all the good stuff was on, but it wasn’t as if he could question. He crawled inside a box that had once housed a refrigerator, surrounded by a bunch of other empty boxes. With one of his knives, he poked some holes in the box for air. All he could do now was wait.

He tried to keep as quiet as possible, his mind drifting to Sakura. He wanted to be there for her, but he just had to get away for a while. Sitting beside her, unable to do anything but grip her hand and wait, he felt absolutely useless. He had no medical knowledge like Yukie. He probably wouldn’t be able to understand all the complicated words in the medical book like Noriko could. No matter how hard he tried, he was still struggling to look after Maki, and Haruka already seemed like a natural. The only thing he seemed good at was scouting.

Now, it seemed, he wasn’t even good at that, seeing as he’d ended up in the path of the Rejects anyway. The sirens were now closer than ever – right outside, he predicted now. If he was caught, it was most likely the end of him. There was to be no special treatment. The sirens shutting off provided no relief, as it confirmed his worst fears – _they were here._ Peeking through the air holes he’d made in the box, he could just spot them.

“We’ll stay here tonight,” Mitsuru’s voice was unmissable. He watched as he settled down on one of the leather couches, too heavy for any looter to take. “We experienced a great victory today, so we’ll need to celebrate in some way.”

“Good thing we always bring the good stuff with us,” another one of them chuckled. He put some cases of beer down on the ground, his friend accompanying him with more alcohol.

“Leaders get first pick. Then, go for your life,” Mitsuko said. She and Mitsuru took their pick, Mitsuru heading for the standard beer and Mitsuko picking something that had been rather expensive in the old days, and then the rest of the Rejects took their pick.

Kazuhiko watched nervously as they sat down and began to drink, chatting to each other. Their laughter echoed around the room. It was obvious they had no plans of leaving soon, so all he could do was wait. He feared that it could take quite a while, but what could he do? There were no mercies given when the Rejects were around, happy mood or not.

\---

The group were awoken in the early morning by the cries of Maki. They echoed through the mall, a ghostly sound in the still-dark building, piercing the ears of each member as they pulled themselves out of bed with a groan. Judging by the fact that Maki was still wailing by the time the group had crowded around the entrance of Sakura’s room, Kazuhiko was still gone, or had gone deaf overnight. Everything was adding up to make Hirono look right. Yukie’s heart couldn’t help as she picked up the baby, rocking her gently as she spared a glance over at Sakura. Gently, she was stirring, but this didn’t look something that she could recover from without some sort of antibiotic. If Kazuhiko didn’t return and Noriko found nothing in the book, she would be as parentless as the rest of them.

“Yahagi, can you take care of Maki while Nakagawa and I check on Ogawa?” Yukie whispered. Yoshimi stepped back slightly, almost bumping into Yugo as a look of half-panic, half-disgust filled her face. She made no move to take the baby, instead shaking her head.

“I don’t know what to do with it. I’d just make it worse,” Yoshimi said and with a mumbled apology, disappeared to the café to wait for someone to make breakfast.

“I’ll take her,” Haruka stepped up, gently taking the baby from Yukie, who shot her a small smile. She rocked the baby as Yukie had, taking her outside the room to give Sakura the best chance of peace she could get, trying to figure out what could be the problem.

Yukie looked around for her thermometer, finding it by the bed with the bowl of water from yesterday, almost empty. It was obvious Sakura was somewhat conscious, but she still hadn’t opened her eyes, her face filled with frustration as she began to toss and turn. She was saying something that Yukie at first couldn’t decipher, but as she took her temperature, realised it was her mumbling for her mother. Yukie couldn’t help but give a small, sad smile. _I think most of us would like our mothers back._

“Kazuhiko… where’s Kazuhiko?” Sakura frowned, Yukie trying to keep her still as she attempted to take her temperature again. Her words made Noriko look up from the book, eyes shining with guilt as she tried to figure out what to do. She didn’t like to tell lies, but at the moment it felt like a better idea than spilling the truth to the ill girl.

“He’s sleeping next door. He wanted to give you some peace,” Noriko said quietly. Sakura let out a small groan as Yukie kept her still, managing to get a temperature reading again. The few words she’d managed to croak out had sunk her back down into deep exhaustion again.

“Her temperature is worse than it was yesterday,” Yukie frowned, reaching for some of the rags. Upon finding the bowl of water by the bed just about empty, she peeked her head outside to see Haruka still there, Maki still crying. “Tanizawa? Could you go to the café and ask Yahagi if she could bring us some more water.”

Haruka nodded and set out to the café, still rocking Maki. No matter what she did, the baby just wouldn’t stop crying, and she could see as she entered the café, everyone wished that she was somewhere else. Kaori grimaced at the cries, as did Shinji and Megumi, but Hirono took her usual, ever so eloquent approach to the situation.

“Can you get that baby to shut up?” Hirono snapped, clanking her spoon against her bowl roughly as she put it down. Haruka cringed at the noise, which had only succeeded in making Maki even more upset.

“I’m trying, but I don’t know what to do. I think she’s hungry… and we have nothing for her,” Haruka said. “It’s the only thing that makes sense. She hasn’t been fed in ages, of course she’s starving.”

“Have you checked the food store for anything?” Yoshimi asked. Megumi gave her an odd look.

“Yahagi… you do realise that Maki is only a few weeks old, right?” Megumi raised an eyebrow.

“Of course I do!” Yoshimi snapped. She got out of her chair, the screech of it echoing through the whole café. She walked over to the pantry and looked in, scanning the shelves for something that could be suitable for Maki, finding something that seemed the closest on the bottom shelf. “See! What about this? It’s the creamer stuff you put in your coffee. You could mix it with water, and there, problem fixed.”

“Thanks, Yahagi… but I don’t really think that’s a good idea,” Haruka sighed. She had to give the girl points for attempting, though. It was way more than she thought she would do.

“You have to give it something!” Hirono said, “you can’t let it starve, and no doubt if this noise keeps going we’ll get _some unwanted attention.”_

Sensing a fight brewing, Shinji arose from his chair and decided it would be best to leave the café behind.

\---

As soon as he heard the sound of footsteps behind him, Yutaka shoved away his radio, not wanting to end up in another fight with someone over having a little hope that someone was out there. When Shinji hauled over one of the stools and took a seat  beside him, he was relieved he’d managed to get rid of it quickly. He was happy to see him, he just really didn’t want to get in a fight over the radio again. Shinji could tell him over and over that there was no one out there, but he was sure that they couldn’t all be gone. There had to be at least _one_ adult still out there in the world.

“Hey,” Yutaka looked over at him, trying to be casual. When he noticed the frustrated look on his face, he found the perfect conversation starter. “Did anything happen?”

“Just the usual drama in the café,” Shinji shrugged. He looked over at the mess that was Yutaka’s work bench, wanting any sort of distraction from the sound that was still filtering in from the café upstairs. A mess of wires and a laptop slouched beside a car battery stood out to him the most. “Hey. Remember what I said about the alarm system?”

It had only been a few days ago, but seriously felt like forever. Things in the group had changed a lot since then.

“Yeah. I couldn’t sleep last night, so I started looking through the bookstore for something that could help us. Books aren’t as in high demand as batteries, so I did have some luck,” Yutaka held up a copy of a thick hardcover about electrical systems.

Shinji nodded and the two began to scan through it for anything that could be relevant to what they were trying to set up, but they didn’t get that far. Within minutes, the two halfway through page fifteen, Yukie stood in the doorway, ready to tackle another issue that needed dealing with. Shinji tried not to groan. Well, at least one thing had remained the same since the old days – just when things got interesting, someone had to come in and need you for something.

“Seto, I’d like your help with adding up what we have in the food store,” Yukie said. “We need to start keeping track… just in case anything happens.”

Yutaka nodded and reluctantly followed Yukie into the café, leaving Shinji with the task of scanning through the book. He leaned against the counter as Yukie opened the pantry, passing Yutaka a pencil and a clipboard. As she told him what was in the pantry, he scribbled it down. Guilt gnawed at him as Yukie reached the bottom few shelves within two minutes. They had considerably less than he thought they did.

He couldn’t break out the stash now, however. It would be much too late. They’d easily all turn on him – it would ruin everything with Shinji, Hirono would quickly rally everyone to kick him out, the list went on. Still, he felt horrible leaving all the food there while the rest of the group could only just get by. It didn’t help that he had always been pretty bad at lying. Hands shaking as he wrote down the quantity of the last item in the pantry, he was almost ready to spill the beans, until the most unlikely saviour emerged.

“What the hell are you guys doing?” Hirono walked by, frowning at the open pantry. Yukie sighed. The last thing she wanted right now was a fight.

“Counting up what we have in the food store. We can’t just come by and pick at the food whenever we feel like it, or choose how much we eat. We need a strict rationing system,” Yukie explained. Before the words were out of her mouth she could already sense Hirono would most definitely have _something_ to say about the new provisions.

“I’m not letting someone dictate what I eat,” Hirono snapped. “I’m not a little kid!”

“Hirono… please…” Yukie let out a sigh. There was so much on her mind that she didn’t even want to waste energy on coming up on a real rebuttal. “Can you just go and check the water tank with Yutaka? That would be rather helpful.”

Most surprisingly, Hirono went off with Yutaka with no fuss.

\---

Hirono and Yutaka stood on the roof of the mall several minutes later. Yutaka climbed up the ladder up to the water tank nervously, not trusting Hirono at all when it came to keeping the ladder still. She brought back memories of the bullies he’d faced during his time at school, and couldn’t help but be on edge around her. If he said something she didn’t really like, he wouldn’t put it past her to ‘accidentally’ start moving the ladder in order to freak him out a bit.

“How does it look?” Hirono yelled up at him. Yutaka peered into the tank, fumbling around with the large ruler he’d brought with him, delivering a worrying answer.

“It’s down considerably since last time I checked,” Yutaka frowned. “That was about a week ago, I think.”

“Damn Ogawa and her fucking baby,” Hirono muttered. “They’re using the most for sure. Let’s not worry about that for now though, there’s some important questions – how will this water rationing process work, exactly?”

“Well,” Yutaka took a deep breath, thinking it through in his head as fast as possible, not wanting to keep Hirono waiting for too long, “I have to divide the dimensions of the tank by the amount of water to get the volume, then-“

“No, idiot,” Hirono snapped, moving one hand off the ladder, “I want to know much we get. _By we meaning Yoshimi and I.”_

“We have to divide the volume of water by how many-“ Yutaka began, yet again being cut off.

“No, not like _that,”_ Hirono said. “I mean, _how much are me and Yoshimi going to get?”_

“I’m trying to explain!” Yutaka exclaimed, a rare burst of confidence for the boy. Hirono glared at him, deciding to be a little more clear with her words.

“For a genius, you’re pretty thick, you know that, Seto? Sure, do your math class thing for the rest of the group, but me and Yoshimi are getting double,” Hirono paused, but immediately started talking again when she saw him open his mouth, “don’t ask any questions. We just do, okay? Starting now.”

Yutaka gulped, giving her a small nod. His hands shook as he reached down to take a bucket from her, quickly beginning his new task.

\---

While things for Sakura had gotten worse, Noriko had made a few breakthroughs. So far, she had managed to find two possible ailments Sakura could have, both needing a different, crucial antibiotic. She stared between the two, the symptoms staring right at her in the pink highlighter she’d used to mark them, trying to figure out which one was the right sickness. If they could find the antibiotics, giving her the wrong one could kill her as fast as leaving it untreated could.

“Mom… mom…” Sakura mumbled, tossing and turning again. Momentarily, Noriko shut the book and gently stroked her hair, trying to soothe her, but there was no breaking through the girl’s strange dream world. “I wish I was with you… I wish I was dead…”

Noriko’s eyes widened at the words. It was incredibly troubling, but may have just saved the girl’s life.

“Have you found anything – or seen Yamamoto?” Yukie asked softly, taking a seat on the bed beside Sakura. The girl was quiet again, sweat dripping down her face, eyes still shut. Every time Yukie came in, she seemed to look even worse. As horrible as the thought was, she wondered if they would be burying her tomorrow.

“I haven’t seen Yamamoto, but I did find something in the book,” Noriko said. She flicked to the page with what she was sure was the correct sickness, reading off the symptoms to Yukie. “High temperature, delirium – vivid thoughts of death, some pain… it’s all exactly what she has.”

“Is there any treatment?” Yukie asked. She’d already gotten up, taking her jacket off the back Noriko’s chair.

“Yes. I can’t pronounce the name, but maybe you’ll have some luck,” Noriko passed over the book. Yukie nodded, saying the name several times to herself before handing it back.

“The hospital where my mom worked might have them,” Yukie began to zip up her jacket. “I can head off now – maybe I can make it back before nightfall.”

“Utsumi! The hospital is right in the path of Reject territory!” Noriko protested, eyes filled with desperation. She could see strength in Yukie’s, it enough to tell her the girl was not going to back down no matter what she said to her.

“I can’t let her die. I can’t let a baby lose her mother,” Yukie said, “especially since it looks like her father isn’t coming back.”

“At… at least take my rollerblades. They’re by my bed in my room,” Noriko said. Yukie nodded, and after accepting a hug from the girl, she left to retrieve them.

Yukie took a deep breath as she stood by the doors of the sewers, preparing herself for the world outside. This probably had to be the riskiest thing she had ever done in her life, but it was worth it. It was the right thing to do. They couldn’t let her die. If she died when she could have gone to get the antibiotics but chose not to, she wouldn’t be able to live with herself.

“Utsumi, is it true?” Haruka ran up to her as she opened the door to the sewers. “You’re going?”

“I have to, Tanizawa,” Yukie nodded. Haruka looked at her and wrapped her in a hug, realising she had never admired anyone so much since her parents were still alive. “I promise I’ll come back, believe me. I’m not letting Ogawa die.”

“Promise?” Haruka still held onto her.

“I promise.”

Reluctantly, Haruka let go of her, watching as Yukie disappeared into the sewers. Her heart ached. If she was caught by the Rejects, it would be over.

\---

At the sound of the sewer door slamming shut half an hour after Yukie left, Haruka got too hopeful for her own good. She knew it wouldn’t be Yukie there, knew she wouldn’t be back yet, that it was far too soon, yet she still ran down to the sewer doors. Kazuhiko had finally returned. While she was relieved that he hadn’t abandoned Sakura and Maki, she could still feel herself burning with fury. If he had come back earlier – or even not left at all – maybe things would be different.

“Sorry I left without saying anything,” Kazuhiko mumbled, digging around in his bag. “I just wanted to get some stuff for Maki-“

“Do you know where Utsumi is right now?” Haruka snapped, unable to help herself. At the sight of so much rage in her eyes, Kazuhiko actually stepped back.

“W-what happened?” Kazuhiko stammered, already expecting the worst.

“She went to the hospital to find antibiotics. To save your girlfriend’s life. She left half an hour ago,” Haruka informed him, watching as the colour drained from his face as she said the word ‘hospital,’ connecting the dots easily.

“That’s through Reject territory! It… it… why didn’t any of you try to step her?!” Kazuhiko asked desperately. At his words, Haruka only looked angrier.

“We couldn’t stop her! She said it was the right thing to do. Especially considering that we thought you weren’t coming back, considering how you just seemed to vanish. What is it, Yamamoto, with all your comings and goings I really thought you loved her, but you definitely don’t show it,” Haruka snapped at him. “Don’t… don’t bother saying anything else to me for now, okay? I…. I just need a minute.”

Kazuhiko nodded, watching as Haruka walked away. Immediately, he was weighed down with guilt. If Yukie did not return, it was going to be his fault, he was sure of it. And two people would most definitely die.


	6. Chapter Six

Chapter Six

It was obvious that the mood of the group was still quite grim by the time dinner came around. No one said a word for over fifteen minutes, too tired or miserable to start a conversation, or just couldn’t be bothered with coming up with words to weave together. Frustration also hung in the air, courtesy of the on and off crying of Maki. Since she had finally been fed things had gotten a little bit better, but she still seemed incredibly unsettled and upset. As ridiculous as it sounded, Haruka somewhat wondered if the girl could sense that something wasn’t right.

Haruka herself wasn’t doing too good. She was still absolutely fuming over Kazuhiko’s late return, appetite gone from her anxiety over Yukie, leaving her in an awful, rather torn mood. She wondered if she had reached the hospital by now. The thought was soon followed by a much more macabre one – was Yukie actually still alive out there?

When Noriko came to join them towards the end of the meal, eyes dull with exhaustion, Haruka figured she could be a conversation opportunity. The only topic that they really had to talk about was still depressing and worrying, but at least she’d be able to get her thoughts of Yukie out of her head for a little while. If Yukie didn’t return tonight though, she was sure she wouldn’t be able to put the thoughts of her aside. She probably wouldn’t be able to sleep at all.

“How’s Ogawa doing?” Haruka asked as Noriko took a seat. It was a useless question, everyone already knowing the answer, but it managed to fill the silence. Most of all, it kept her mind busy for a while.

“She’s still rambling, most of it about dying. Her temperature is really worrying. She soaked through the bedsheets with sweat, I changed them before I came for dinner,” Noriko informed them, staring down at the plate in front of her. She really wasn’t in the mood to eat, but knew she needed to replenish her strength.

“Nakagawa, do you fucking mind?” Hirono snapped, only succeeding in making everyone feel worse. “We’re _eating_. This shit is already unappetising as it is. Then  again, I really shouldn’t have expected much – this is what you get when Seto cooks.”

“I told you all I wasn’t that good…” Yutaka stared down at his plate in shame.

“Sorry,” Noriko mumbled. While she was good at hiding it, Haruka was sure that the apology wasn’t actually meant. “I just hope Utsumi can get back here in time. At… at least, as horrible as I know this sounds – if she passes away before she comes back, she’ll have Yamamoto by her side. She… won’t be alone if it happens.”

“So he’s taking over for a while?” Haruka asked, trying at first to hide her anger, but it soon became obvious that she wasn’t able to. Yukie was taking centre stage in her mind again. “I’m glad. You were sitting with her all day, same as Utsumi was… before she left…”

“He isn’t with Ogawa,” Noriko said, placing down her cutlery. She’d only had one bite, but now she felt less like eating than ever. “Again… I thought he was here, eating dinner with everyone.”

“Are you kidding me? He’s done a runner again?” Hirono frowned. She wasn’t the biggest fan of Sakura or Maki, frustrated by the fact they used up a lot of their resources between them, and she’d never liked babies that much, but she still had to feel awful for the both of them. Raising a baby in this new world was rough enough, but it was even worse raising a baby in this world _alone._ “What the fuck is wrong with him?”

“Maybe Yamamoto is asleep in the mall somewhere?” Megumi offered. No one took her words on board.

“We can’t keep making excuses for him,” Haruka muttered, the group able to detect a little sadness in her voice underneath the frustration.

“I… I just don’t get it. He really did seem like a good, loyal person. He didn’t seem like the type at all to do this – keep coming and going like this,” Noriko mumbled. She hadn’t felt so stupid in a long time.

“Well, one of these times he’s not gonna come back, so we better start thinking about what we’re gonna do,” Hirono said. “Are Ogawa and her baby going to stay with us? Can any of us – no, are any of us _willing_ to look after them properly if Utsumi-“

Haruka couldn’t let Hirono finish that sentence. If anyone had to say it, she wanted to be the one. It would hurt too much hearing it from someone else’s lips.

“If Utsumi doesn’t come back, Ogawa is going to die. Her daughter will be just like the rest of us,” Haruka said. “We’ll have to raise Maki ourselves if that happens – if Yamamoto doesn’t come back either. We’ll bring her up together – we’ll be her family. We’ll try our best to educate her and protect her, and ultimately – create a better world for her to live in.”

Right on cue, Maki began wailing again.

“I guess you better go get her,” Hirono said. “After all, you were the one that suggested raising her.”

Haruka promptly left the café.

\---

After dinner ended, Noriko returned to her spot beside Sakura. There had been no change in the girl since she was gone, save for the fact that she had now gone silent. She’d slipped out of consciousness, looking as if she was sleeping to anyone who didn’t know that she was ill. Every now and then, Noriko looked over at her and carefully checked to see that she was breathing. She checked at least three times before looking away, terrified that in her state of exhaustion, she had imagined her chest still moving up and down and her pulse still there. More than anything, she was worried that when she next checked, the girl would be dead.

“Please, Ogawa, hold on,” Noriko whispered, taking the girl’s hand. “You have so much to live for. You have your boyfriend. Your daughter. You’re a family. You want to see her grow up, don’t you? You can help us give her a proper future. We need you. Most importantly, _Maki_ needs you. You can beat this. Utsumi will be back soon. Just please… please… hold on for a little longer. You’re going to get better.”

Noriko was tempted to promise her that she would get better, but instead cut herself off. There were no promises in this new world. She felt stupid talking to an unconscious, almost dead girl, but she tried her hardest to keep thinking of things, coming up with reasons to live, just in case she could hear her. She knew that even if she could hear her, it would probably make no difference at all, but deep down, she had hope. Hope was the most important thing in this world – though she knew that was something many people would argue with her about. She needed to keep her hope. Without it, Noriko knew she wouldn’t be herself anymore.

Somewhere down the line, Noriko stopped speaking, just for a moment, and in the next, she had rested her head lightly against the wall. She couldn’t remember the last time she had ever been this tired, not even knowing if she _had_ ever been this tired, and while she tried to fight it, she ended up falling asleep anyway. Her hand was still clasped in Sakura’s, but her grip was fading as she descended further into slumber.

The ‘peace’ didn’t last for very long. Roughly ten minutes, she was roused by the sound of tapping almost right outside the room. Groaning softly, she got up to check out the noise, a part of her wondering if Yukie had returned yet. It was foolish, considering the fact the sun had now gone down, the city harder to navigate in darkness, and that the girl was also trying to navigate her way through Reject territory unseen, but she still had the slightest sliver of hope.

Of course, she was disappointed when she stepped outside the room, seeing only Kaori and Megumi there, running up and down the hallway. They seemed to be playing some sort of game, having one of the rare moments of fun in this world, and a part of her hated to interrupt them. The exhausted part of her quickly won out, though, and she tried her hardest to put an end to their ‘game’ as kindly as possible.

“Can you both do something a little bit quieter?” Noriko asked the two softly. Megumi and Kaori both stopped in their tracks at the sound of her voice. “Just… Ogawa and her daughter are asleep, and it’s getting a bit late.”

Megumi and Kaori gave her a small nod and with no words, walked off in the direction of their room in the mall, the old arcade, wondering if they’d be able to find much else to do. Noriko heard a small sigh behind her, seemingly a sigh of relief, and her eyes lit up when she saw Yoshimi behind her. She doubted she’d never be this happy to see the girl again. Hopefully, for the sake of her tired sake and Sakura’s health, she’d be willing to be reasonable.

“Hey, Yahagi,” Noriko shot her a soft smile which Yoshimi soon returned, “are you busy?”

“Eh, not really I guess. I found these bottles of nail polish in the pharmacy that I want to try out,” Yoshimi held up a few bottles of pink, purple, blue and yellow nail polish. Noriko tried to keep herself composed, but she couldn’t believe that the girl would go through the pharmacy, _Yukie’s room_ , just like that. It was as if she was pretending she was already dead. “What did you need?”

“I was wondering if you could take over with Ogawa for a while,” Noriko said, immediately noticing the smile fading from Yoshimi’s face. “I’ve been with her all day, as as Tanizawa, and frankly, we’re both pretty tired. It would help us all so much if you took over for us.”

“Sorry, Nakagawa,” Yoshimi mumbled. “Sick people make me feel gross. You can probably do a better job than me. Good luck, okay?”

Yoshimi gave her a small smile and then walked off, leaving Noriko standing alone in front of Sakura’s room. For one of the first times in her life, she actually wanted to let out a shriek of frustration, but she tried to dismiss the thought. Instead, she went back inside Sakura’s room, rocked Maki when she stirred, and tried to focus all her attention on trying to stay awake.

She hoped desperately that Yukie would return by tomorrow. As unlikely as it seemed at the moment, things could possibly be quite different – in a _better_ way – by this time tomorrow.

\---

It was pitch black outside now, and Yukie could barely see a thing in front of her. Once, in a time that felt like it could have taken place a century ago, the streetlights would have lit the way for her, but they were as dead as the adults that had provided the power to make them work. For a moment, she had thought about bringing a flashlight with her, but ultimately, it had proven too risky, giving her even more a chance being caught on her almost insane mission to the hospital. Still, she carried on in the dark. She had to keep going, hoping she both wouldn’t injure herself in the dark or be caught by the Rejects. If she rested for the night, it may be too late. Even now, Sakura could be gone, but she tried her hardest not to think about that. It wouldn’t help her at all.

Noriko’s rollerblades had helped her get along a lot faster, so by now she was sure she was quite close to the hospital. She had walked from her school, which had been not too far from the mall, to the hospital numerous times back in the old days; the route had basically been ingrained in her mind. Hopefully she hadn’t forgotten it after all this time. Something else gave her the idea she was in the right direction – the faint sound of sirens in the distance.

 _It must be at least ten,_ Yukie thought to herself as she skated along. _Do they ever stop? They have to take a break from their…_ lifestyle _at some point. Hopefully they won’t come to the hospital. What interest would the Rejects have in a hospital?_

She was thrown out of her thoughts by the feeling of toppling over something. She felt herself fall into a large, overgrown bush, obviously abandoned after the virus had struck. It gave her hope that she had reached the hospital – it did have quite a large, extravagant garden outside, that she was sure would look like a complete disaster by now, but she couldn’t help but wonder what it was that she’d tripped over.

When she’d checked, she wished so badly that she hadn’t. She could just barely see it, sprawled out on the pavement. The liquid looked black in the darkness, but she knew what its real colour would be in the daylight. It was a body, splattered in blood, limbs bent in unnatural angles. When she noticed the body’s throat, sliced so intensely the person had almost been decapitated, she had to look away, feeling like she was going to throw up. Yukie could deal with most awful things, but she could never get used to grisly murder. It had been the first time she’d actually seen a victim of the Rejects – at least, she presumed it was them, considering the area the hospital was in – for herself, and she hoped she’d never have to see one again.

The ugly picture remained in her mind as she turned around, navigating her way to the hospital’s entrance in the dark. She wondered if there was a way to activate the hospital’s back-up generator, make it a little easier to find what she needed, but knew it was useless. It was probably gone, or something she couldn’t do for herself, more a job for Shinji and Yutaka. Instead, she tried her hardest to work with the very limited light she had, wandering around the hospital as she looked for the stairs. She’d always taken the lift before.

Eventually, she climbed up the stairs, finding the shining letters of the hospital directory looking back at her. A tiny smile crossed her lips as she found the way to her mother’s surgery. When she reached the door, however, the smile faded. She hesitated as she placed her hand on the door handle, taking a deep breath as she opened the door. _Come on, Yukie. You can do this. You have a job to do._

When Yukie entered her mother’s old surgery, she felt more lost than ever. The place that had once seemed so close to her, so personal, seemed like nothing now. She fumbled around in the dark, the sound of the sirens lost for now, trying her hardest to find the desk. Her hand eventually wrapped around the knob of a drawer that she quickly pushed open, running her hand around in it for something, _anything_ that seemed to resemble a bottle of pills.

Her hand gripped a small box. She ran her hand across what was inside, smiling slightly when she realised what it was. It definitely wasn’t pills, but it could help her find them.

_“You have to be prepared for anything, Yukie. Sure, they may call me stupid for having my candles, with all the backup generator this and that, but you never know. You have to be careful.”_

Yukie lit the candle as soon as she found it, smiling brightly for a moment as the room lit up a little. She lit the second one she found as well, a rather impressive find, and her smile got a little more brighter as the room lit up a little more. She had enough light now to be able to look for the antibiotics. She doubted the light would attract any outside attention, considering how deep in the hospital the surgery was. Still, every now and then, she looked around quickly, ready to blow out the candle at any moment.

When she finally found where the pills were kept, Yukie quickly began to go through the drawers, checking the label on every bottle, reciting the name of the antibiotic that would save Sakura’s life over and over again in her head. As every bottle turned out to be a dud, her hope began to fade, until she finally reached a cabinet in the corner of the room. Behind a clutter of bottles… the antibiotics were there!

Yukie smiled to herself, grabbing the bottle of antibiotics and placing it in the pocket of her jacket, deciding to keep it close instead of risking it in her bag. She readied herself to leave, reaching over to blow out the candle, until a photograph got her attention. With shaky hands, she picked it up, staring at it with eyes that soon filled with tears.

That had been such a good day. She had been twelve, on a school break, with absolutely no idea that the world she had grown so comfortable in would become in a few years. It had been one of the rare times both of her parents hadn’t been working, and they’d decided to go to the beach. They’d all been so happy, so carefree. It was the type of memory that couldn’t be replicated. Now, there was absolutely no hope of it.

Again, Yukie reminded herself that she had a job to do. With a deep breath, she placed the photograph back on the table, blew out the candles, and made her way out of the hospital.

\---

When the sun rose the next day, there was still no sign of Kazuhiko or Yukie. Haruka was more anxious than ever when she found the girl hadn’t returned, and had taken over the job of looking after Sakura, hoping that time spent looking after her and Maki would be able to get her mind off her for a while. Noriko had managed to get about four hours of sleep, but had forced herself to rouse at the normal time. It would be easier to wake up on her own accord, instead of dealing with people barging in and saying they were hungry. With Haruka busy and Yukie gone, no one else was going to step up and cook breakfast.

She navigated her way through the mall, fiddling with her hair, trying to get it out of her face. In the old days, she always looked pristine, no hair out of place, her clothing perfect, but now there was no time for that. At least, at the very least… she looked a lot better than the café did. No one had bothered to clean up at all after dinner last night. The table was strewn with dishes, some of them probably have been there since lunch, some of them toppled over. It was a complete disaster, and extremely unhygienic.

Noriko tried to clean up the table as best as she could, sorting out all the plates, bowls and cutlery, but she was quickly getting frustrated. The lack of sleep was starting to really catch up with her. When a pile of bowls tipped over as she dug around for the can opener, she could feel herself about to reach her breaking point.

“Hey, what’s the matter?” Yoshimi frowned, taking a step back at the sound of bowls clanging together. She’d never seen Noriko like this before, and despite the fact she hadn’t known the girl for long, she still felt as if her actions were a bit out of character. She truly was on the edge.

“I… I…” Noriko paused, realising how unbelievably stupid she sounded, “I can’t find the can opener.”

Yoshimi daintily placed a few plates aside, giving her the can opener with a small smile.

“Thank you,” Noriko said quietly. She knew she was probably setting herself up for frustration, but she couldn’t help but hope that the girl would decide to pitch in now that she’d seen the frame of mind she was in. “I was wondering… would you be able to help me with the dishes while I cook?”

As Noriko somewhat expected, Yoshimi gave her a small shake of the head, holding up her hands in explanation, citing her freshly done nails as the reason why she couldn’t help with the dishes. As she left, the urge to scream returned to Noriko again, but was quickly wiped away by the sound of a new, much desired voice filling the room.

“Everyone! I got them!” Yukie rushed up the stairs, holding a bottle of pills in her hand. Noriko smiled at her, and the two quickly rushed into Sakura’s room, hoping desperately that she hadn’t returned too late.

\---

Kazuhiko had been waiting at the rail yard for what felt like forever. He’d managed to send a message to the gang, but he had no idea what would be waiting for him – or how long he’d be waiting for either. Mitsuru probably wasn’t going to turn up – a small meeting like his wouldn’t rank too high on his to-do list, same with Mitsuko- so he was more estimating someone who fell around the middle or upper-middle of the pack showing up. They wouldn’t trust a new recruit or slave when it came to getting messages. What he also feared was how _many_ Rejects would show up, but he attempted to remain optimistic.

This was probably one of the most stupid and dangerous things that he had ever done, but he knew he had to take this risk. Maybe his message would manage to get through to Mitsuru – get him to see a little sense. For now, however, he had nothing to do but stand beside one of the many burnt-out rail carriages and wait. No doubt the group knew he was missing, seeing as he’d been out all night. Guilt filled him,. The group would probably be absolutely furious with him. Sakura could possibly dead. It was a definite if Yukie wasn’t back yet.

Yukie… he felt another wave of guilt wash over him. He wasn’t able to dwell on this for long, however, as the crunch of boots grabbed his attention. He looked around nervously, getting up as the crunching got closer, a part of him wishing he’d brought a knife with him – not that he’d probably be able to get himself to use it. As stupid as he now thought it was, he’d decided to come unarmed to try his hardest to prove he wasn’t looking for trouble.

A tall, well-built boy jumped down from the carriage, slightly startling Kazuhiko. He could recognise the boy, despite the fact he had a new, harder look in his eyes, his hair was longer, and he wore some red war paint on his face, something that quite a few members of the Rejects had decided to start wearing – strangely enough, their leaders had never adopted the trend. The baseball bat he gripped in his hand was new also, in a way. He had been a sports star when they had been classmates, but now the bat had a completely new purpose. Yes, Tadakatsu Hatagami had changed quite a lot, but at least he could still recognise Kazuhiko as well. It made him feel a little more relaxed, giving him less of a reason to think the meeting would go awry.

“What business do you have with us?” Tadakatsu asked him, looking him right in the eyes. There was a flash of recognition in them – he had to remember him after all the years of being classmates – but he was acting as if he didn’t know him at all.

“I-I wanted to deliver a message to Mitsuru,” Kazuhiko said, hating himself for stammering. He fumbled around in the pocket of his jacket for the note.

“What makes you think he’d be interested in hearing from you?” Tadakatsu snapped. Kazuhiko raised an eyebrow, unable to stop himself – Tadakatsu had to remember such a simple fact. “After all this time, it would probably be in your best interest to stay out of his face.”

“He’ll want to hear this. I know we have both… changed… considerably since the beginning of all this, but I still know him enough to know he really will want to hear this,” Kazuhiko said quietly, holding out the note. He hoped desperately that Tadakatsu wouldn’t tear it up. “Please. He deserves to know about this, and will want to.”

Tadakatsu looked at the note for a minute, and Kazuhiko realised that he was thinking carefully about what to do. He could see a small flash of the boy he used to be come through in his eyes as he took the note, and Kazuhiko tried his hardest to hold back his sigh of relief. The meeting had gone much smoother than he thought it would – but there was one more thing he needed to clear off before he headed back to the more.

“Wait,” Kazuhiko called out. Tadakatsu hesitantly turned back around. “There… there’s one more thing. Make sure the message reaches Numai and Numai only. I… I don’t want Souma in our business.”

Kazuhiko immediately regretted the words, wondering if Tadakatsu would take offence, but he just nodded. He seemed to understand the point that he was trying to make. After that, the two parted ways, and as he walked back to the mall, Kazuhiko’s mind was in two directions – would the message manage to reach Mitsuru, and would things be all right back in the mall? At least the latter would be figured out soon enough, but the former would take a while to receive an answer to. Maybe it wouldn’t ever come.

When he arrived back to the mall, he could immediately smell the scent of breakfast up in the café. That was a good sign, he figured. If Sakura had died, they probably wouldn’t all be gathering for a meal. He shut the sewer door behind him as quietly as possible, receiving no attention as he walked up the stairs. He saw the group lined up for breakfast, waiting to be served. Proclaiming that the oldest get served first, Hirono barged right in front of Noriko and Yugo, beginning to fill her plate. Kazuhiko sighed, deciding to finally make his presence known.

“H-hey,” Kazuhiko stammered. The café soon went silent. “I’m back.”

Everyone placed down their plates and looked over at Kazuhiko. He could sense the anger in the room, from Haruka especially. At the sight of the look of fury on her face, he began to get nervous, his nerves increasing as she stepped over to him. The group stood behind her, stone-faced, waiting to see what she had to say to him. He doubted it was anything good.

“Where have you been?” Haruka asked him. Kazuhiko knew that he couldn’t tell the truth, and scrambled to come up with a lie. “We thought you’d left for good this time! We were terrified! If Utsumi hadn’t returned with the antibiotics, Ogawa would be dead! You left her when she needed you by her side the most!”

“I… I… I’m sorry,” Kazuhiko stuttered, knowing it was an absolutely pathetic response. He had an even more pathetic lie to go with it. “I went after Utsumi. I didn’t want her to go alone. I thought that maybe… I’d be able to catch up with her.”

“Save it,” Haruka frowned. It was obvious she nor the rest of the group actually believed him. “Utsumi was fine on her own. Ogawa is at least stable now, for your information. I think you owe Utsumi some thanks.”

“I... I’ll go check on Sakura,” Kazuhiko mumbled, and promptly left the café in shame. Hirono looked over at Haruka with a frown, feeling slightly… odd about Kazuhiko. She wondered where on Earth he had actually gone, no doubt somewhere quite suspicious.

“You know, I think it’s time we make his business our own,” Hirono said to the group. Haruka nodded.

“I agree.”


	7. Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

The pile of dishes had only gotten larger once breakfast was over. Yugo had left as soon as he’d finished to go off and continue what he’d been doing, not even thinking twice about the cleaning up to do, while the rest of the group that wasn’t attending to Sakura sat around for a while. The main point of conversation was Kazuhiko. Numerous debates had risen about where he really had been, where he hadn’t been, and if he was going to go away again soon. When the conversations had switched to just about demonising the boy, Noriko had decided enough was enough.

“So, everyone,” Noriko said, managing to capture the table’s attention. “We have a bit of a problem we need to attend to – the growing pile of dishes. I’m sure with quite a few hands on board we can get everything done rather quickly. So… who’s in?”

The café was completely quiet. When she looked over at the other members of the group, she noticed their facial expressions ranged from blank to somewhat disgusted. She looked down at the table, knowing she couldn’t exactly force them to help with the dishes, and decided to set about stacking up the dishes herself. Maybe once they saw that she was actually going to help too instead of bossing everyone around, they’d feel a bit more like helping.

“Uh… no thanks Noriko,” Yoshimi got up, offering her dish onto the growing pile. “I don’t want to do chores. We don’t have to do chores anymore. There’s no adults here to tell us what to do.”

“Yeah, and we don’t want you telling us what to do either, Nakagawa,” Hirono cut in, setting her dish on the pile with a loud clang that rang through the café. “There was enough of that with the adult. We make our own rules, and I say that I haven’t survived this long to waste my time doing dishes.”

“She has a point,” Megumi mumbled, hating to admit she agreed with Hirono. “There’s a lot of other things we could be doing, that’s all.”

“Like the alarm system,” Shinji cut in. Noriko seemed to lose more hope at that point – even _Shinji_ , who she had been through thick and thin with since the virus outbreak, couldn’t see the point she was trying to make. Yutaka looked over at him with a shy smile, grateful Shinji had said the words that he had been too afraid to say himself.

“That’s important, I know,” Noriko let out a small sigh, wishing that the group could see that she was trying her hardest to be reasonable, “but we won’t be around to need protection if disease gets up first. If we leave all this stuff here, who knows what might come in. I know dishes aren’t anyone’s favourite thing to do but… please?”

“If you care so much, Nakagawa, you do them,” Hirono rolled her eyes. “I got more important things to do than do dishes. Eto, Minami, Yoshimi – I’m sure you guys can take one for the team today.”

“What?! Me?!” Yoshimi shrieked. “Come on, Hirono, you know I don’t do dishes! I have to keep my nails nice! Nail polish bottles don’t grow on trees, you know!”

The argument was ended by the sound of something slamming, the group quickly looking over to see the source of the nose. Yukie had slipped into the café some point during the argument, and had stayed silent until she just couldn’t take it anymore. Haruka immediately noted that she half looked like she was going to cry, half like she wanted to rip everyone’s heads off. She let out a small sigh – the events of the past few days were obviously beginning to get to her.

“Ogawa is laying in there, still sick, possibly even going to die… and you’re all arguing over dirty dishes?! You’re pathetic!” Yukie yelled, and then quickly stormed out of the café. Noriko looked down sheepishly, Hirono made a snide comment under her breath, and Yutaka and Shinji left the café through the other exit, wanting no part in drama.

Haruka decided to follow her, hoping that a friendly face might help. After about five minutes of searching, she finally found Yukie in her room, the pharmacy, sitting on her bed. The look on her face frightened her – the girl actually looked hopeless. She quickly took a seat beside her, but Yukie didn’t say anything at all. For a moment, Haruka thought of taking her hand, her heart racing at the thought, but ultimately decided against it for now.

“H-hey. Are you all right?” Haruka questioned. Already, she was beating herself up inside – _considering what happened in the café, what type of question was that?_ “I mean… how are you feeling? I know things have been quite intense recently.”

“I’m sorry about what happened in the café,” Yukie said first, cheeks turning slightly pink, “I guess I’m just frustrated and exhausted. It has been quite intense recently, just like you said. The worst part is that in this world… will it ever actually slow down? If Ogawa dies, I don’t know what I’ll do.”

“If she does, you did everything you could do,” Haruka said, again considering taking her hand. “I hope for the best. You brought back the antibiotics. Things would be a lot more hopeless without them.”

At that, Yukie nodded.

“They would,” Yukie said. “Nakagawa was right about the cleaning up… I should apologise to her for blowing up like that. We need to get everyone involved, somehow. That way, everything’s equal, there won’t be as many protests… but it’s easier said than done. I should start working on a rota-“

“Utsumi, Utsumi – you don’t have to do anything right now, okay?” Haruka shot her a small smile, mustering up the courage to finally hold her hand, “You should rest. You’ve been really busy lately. I… I’ll try and figure out something with the group, get at least some of them to clean up – you should rest. I’ll wake you if anything happens to Ogawa.”

Yukie seemed hesitant at first, but eventually gave her a nod. Heart racing, Haruka reached out and gave her a hug, holding onto her for longer than she probably should have. She couldn’t help it.

“Everything is going to be okay in the end. I promise.”

\----

The last few days felt like an absolute haze for Sakura. She couldn’t remember any full days, just chunks of events, not knowing why or how they had happened. Faint echoes such as the feeling of a soft hand in hers, hushed voices in her ears and the feeling of being propped up and pills deposited in her mouth were the few things that she could vividly remember once beginning to regain consciousness. She looked around slowly, using all the strength she could muster to look around. She relaxed considerably when she saw Kazuhiko at her bedside, Maki in his arms – the two things she wanted to see more than anything.

“You’re back,” Kazuhiko smiled at her, gently brushing her hair out of her face.

“W-where have I been?” Sakura questioned. She felt stupid for asking a question like that, but it seemed to be the easiest way to ask what had happened to her. Considering how awful she felt, it hadn’t been anything good, but hopefully everything would end up as all right as it could be in their world.

“You’ve been very ill. Some sort of disease that was picked up after Maki was born,” Kazuhiko nodded at her, reaching to take her hand. “We were terrified you weren’t going to pull through. Nakagawa searched through a book to try and figure out what was wrong – it was luck she found it. Utsumi risked her life to go out and get the cure. She saved your life.”

“Utsumi… she did that for me?” Sakura looked up at him in surprise. How could a stranger be so selfless? She was someone truly special. “I… I don’t know what to say. I know nothing can cover it accurately, but I want to thank her.”

“She’ll probably be in soon,” Kazuhiko nodded, still feeling guilty over his earlier disappearance – but he had to do what needed to be done. “The only time she really left your side was when she went to get your antibiotics. In the meantime, would you like to hold Maki?”

Sakura nodded. He placed the baby in the basket that served as a crib for a moment to help her sit up, then placed her in his girlfriend’s arms. Sakura couldn’t help but smile at her as she looked down at her – she was the best thing that had ever happened to her, along with Kazuhiko – but there was some hurt in her eyes all the same. She couldn’t imagine the world without her, but at the same time, would always hate her for bringing her into a world like this. At least the hope of giving Maki a better world to grow up in was a reason to live for.

The sombre mood didn’t last for long, however, as Yukie showed up at the door, the smile on her face making her feel calmer. Yukie knew that Haruka had told her to rest – and she’d probably sigh and shake her head if she saw her up – but she wanted to come and see how Sakura was going. The sight of her sitting up and cradling Maki made her feel as if she truly had succeeded – that girl was going to grow up with a mother. It wasn’t the first time she wished their world was different. She wished she could bring something, either some flowers or a gift for the baby, but she knew saving her life was a gift enough.

“Hello,” Yukie stepped into the room, hoping she hadn’t interrupted a family moment. “I just wanted to check in.”

“Utsumi…” Sakura looked up at her, wishing she’d had more time to think of something to say. Then again, she wouldn’t be able to think of the perfect thing to say if she had the next year to think about it. “Thank you so much for everything you did for me. Kazuhiko told me everything. You risked everything to save my life, and I’ll never be able to truly tell you how much it means to me.”

“I’d do it all over again, honestly,” Yukie carefully took a seat on the bed, “I needed to save your life. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I did nothing. Maki needs her mother – she needs her whole family. It’s a rare thing for someone to have in this world.”

Sakura was completely moved by her words, still unable to believe a total stranger had risked her life for her like that, but the feelings didn’t last for long. Her mind had begun to clear now that she’d been awake for a while, the events prior to her falling ill sprung to mind. They had been leaving. Sure, Yukie had supported them, but what was she supposed to do? If the group didn’t want her, Kazuhiko and Maki to stay, as the majority had voted – they just had to go.

“I suppose we’ll be going, once I’m well enough to get out of bed,” Sakura nodded. She had no idea where they’d go, but she and Kazuhiko would be able to find somewhere to go. “I won’t forget what you’ve done for me.”

“I can’t let you guys leave. Look, I know they voted against, but we can’t let you guys leave like that. I know some attitudes have changed… and the others?” Yukie let out a sigh, thinking of potential protests, “well, they’ll have to deal with it. I’ll take care of it if anyone says anything, I promise. We’re not letting you guys wander around with nowhere to go.”

Sakura nodded, giving her a quiet thank you, parroted by Kazuhiko. Yukie then left them along, figuring the family would want some alone time for a while. Kazuhiko looked over at his girlfriend, enjoying the look of her smile and look of peace on her face, dreading what he would have to do soon, when he was sure they’d be alone. He hated to ruin things, but it really did need to be done.

\----

Yutaka was fiddling with the radio again. He couldn’t help it – it was what he often turned to when things were difficult. With all the arguing and the drama with Kazuhiko and Sakura that had gone on lately, he didn’t know what would happen. Would they be kicked out once she’d gotten better… would they stay? Either way, there would probably be more fights. Then there was everything going on with the chores… and all his ideas for future projects… there was so much going on.

Yes, for now, it would be for the best to stay with his radio. Maybe today would be the day, and someone would come and save them from all the chaos. It was such a stupid thought, he knew that, but he needed to keep hope alive. How could the virus have possibly taken _every single_ adult? The radio, so far, seemed to answer his question – all he could hear was static.

“Come on, Yutaka muttered. He lightly shook the radio, but that, as expected, seemed to do absolutely nothing. All he could hear now was still static, as well as a faint tapping sound. His heart raced, but the feeling didn’t last for long. As he moved himself closer to the radio to try and pick up the sound, he realised it was coming from the room instead of the radio. It was the worst false alarm he could possibly get.

He looked over to see Kaori and Megumi standing in the doorway. They hadn’t said a word yet – Yutaka was relieved they knew that much, if Shinji had been in here with him it would have been the end of everything – but he could tell what they wanted. Their eyes were fixed on the food cabinet, mind filled with thoughts of the goodies in side. He couldn’t help but sigh – breakfast hadn’t even been over for an hour yet. The stash had already taken a bit of a beating since the girls had found it. As frustrating as it was, though, he couldn’t blame them. They hadn’t seen the luxuries of the cabinet most likely since their parents had been alive.

However, he noticed upon looking at them a little longer that their attention seemed to be on the radio instead of the cabinet. It was a relief, but at the same time he was worried. Just like with the cabinet, he hoped they wouldn’t tell the others. He didn’t want a bunch of people basically telling him the idea was dumb – it had been bad enough when Shinji had said it.

“What are you doing?” as usual, Megumi was the first to speak. Kaori stood beside her, arm linked in her friend’s, more than happy to let her do all the talking. Their friendship had always been like that, but she didn’t consider it a bad thing. She never thought she had many interesting things to say, not that she’d ever tell anyone. Megumi would never let her hear the end of it.

“Oh… I’m uh…” Yutaka stammered. Eventually, he decided to just come clean, knowing the girl would keep asking questions if he tried to lie. “I’m working on one of my projects – the radio. I want to see if there’s anyone out there… the adults. I know that if they wanted to communicate with us, they’d try there first.”

“Really?!”Megumi’s eyes widened. She just about dragged Kaori as she ran over to the radio, looking at it with wide eyes. “You mean… someone might be out there – mom, dad? I mean… I know that they’re gone… but there could be _others!_ Others… we need to tell the others! Someone could be coming!”

“Eto…” Yutaka reached out to put a hand on her shoulder, knowing more than ever that them being here was a terrible idea. He quickly tried to think of a way to properly explain the situation to her, but before he could, they were interrupted.

“You’re giving them false hope,” the three of them quickly looked over at the doorway to see Shinji there. The look on his face said it all to Yutaka – he was done. “Come on, Seto – telling them someone is out there, coming for them? They’re kids that are still trying to grasp that their parents are gone – they don’t need this.”

Not wanting to be around an argument, Megumi and Kaori decided to leave at that point.

“They’re the same age as me – and only a year younger than you,” Yutaka said, knowing that his ‘argument’ was quite poor. Shinji even looked somewhat _disappointed_ in him.

“They’re basically kids – I can tell. They were the type that were allowed to be kids before the world went to hell,” Shinji sighed. “I saw them in the music store the other day… searching around for a poster of one of their favourite _pop idols_! They don’t need this – we as a whole don’t need this. We should be working on an alarm system, maybe even some sort of power generator even – just something, anything more practical.”

At that moment, Yutaka felt as if someone had smashed his heart with a hammer. He tried his hardest not to show it, looking at Shinji to see that he seemed to be putting on a façade too. For a split second, he noticed guilt in his eyes that he quickly masked. Yutaka gave him a small nod and shoved the radio aside.

“I guess we better get started with something, then.”

\----

While Kazuhiko wasn’t out there, he could tell that the group were having _another_ argument. The timing did fit with one – it was around lunch time. The sounds of shouting and even a few slams were all he could hear as he fed Maki a bottle, it making the room a rather grim place to be. Unless things majorly changed, that was going to be her future. An unfortunately, the mood was going to get even worse in a moment – but it had to be done. Since the group’s argument seemed to have no signs of stopping, he was confident that he could finally drop the bomb without being caught by anyone.

“I met with someone yesterday,” Kazuhiko said quietly. Sakura looked up at him in confusion, and slowly, he helped her sit up. “Hatagami, at the railyard. I gave him a message to pass on.”

“To… to _him_?” Sakura’s eyes widened. “What did you say? Are you sure it’s going to end up in the right hands?”

“I told him that I want him to meet with me – to meet with _us_ , actually. Tonight. That we have to talk about something important – and that it’s something that he would definitely be interested in. I think I can get through to him. You know what he was like in the old days – he was all about family. Meeting Maki could make him realise that all this chaos needs to stop, that there is a reason to build a new world. I needed to do it,” Kazuhiko explained, noticing how with every word Sakura seemed more unsure. She reached out for Maki, as if Kazuhiko was going to run out of the room any minute and take her with him, and he passed her over.

“I’m not leaving the mall. Maki isn’t either. I’m sorry, Kaz, but I’m not doing it. I can’t risk it,” Sakura gently rocked her daughter, trying to ease the horrible thoughts out of her head. “If anything happened to her, I don’t know what I’d do.”

“Maki isn’t going to be danger. You aren’t going to be in danger. I promise,” Kazuhiko put a hand on her shoulder, but Sakura didn’t smile. “I said in the note that we’d be meeting here – the mall – for you and Maki’s safety.”

“The mall?” Sakura mentally cursed herself for raising her voice. “That’s a danger for everyone! Who knows how many people he’ll show up with? This could go wrong, Kaz. So, so wrong.”

“I know,” Kazuhiko sighed softly, the horrible thoughts now going around in his mind. “But I had to do this. It’s going to be okay. I won’t let anything happen to us all, I promise.”

Sakura gave him a nod, but he wasn’t believed. She held onto Maki tightly, already dreading the night to come.

\----

As Kazuhiko had considered having the talk about the meeting with Sakura, Hirono and Yoshimi had come into the café, more than ready for dinner. As they had done before, they expected to raid the food store for whatever they wanted, then wait for Yukie or Noriko to come in and cook it, but a new obstacle had emerged. On the doors of the food store was now a lock, and the sight of it was enough to make Hirono absolutely furious.

“What the fuck is this?!” Hirono shouted, kicking the door of the food store so hard the entire cupboard shook. At the same time as she had begun yelling, Yukie had entered the room. The sight of a small smirk on her face, the addition obviously her idea, she wanted to punch her so bad. _If her plan is to fucking starve us, then I might just have to._

“An ultimatum,” Haruka appeared beside Yukie, crossing her arms. Hirono was irritated, but didn’t want to attack the girl – no one could beat Yukie’s levels of annoyance… well, at least until Noriko came into the room. She was trying her hardest to hide it, but Hirono could still tell she was quite happy with herself.

“No dishes done, no food. I’m sorry, we didn’t want it to come to this but… we have no choice. It appears there’s no other way you guys will help us,” Noriko explained. Kaori and Megumi entered the room to catch her words, but were on the fence. She was being reasonable, but they _were_ hungry… and wouldn’t exactly complain if Hirono opened the door.

“Not this shit again,” Hirono groaned. “Come on. Let us eat. Then I guess we can work something out.”

“No,” Yukie was bolder than any of them would expect. “I’m not unlocking the cupboard until the dishes are done. That’s final.”

“Oh. So you have the key, then?” Yoshimi said, a smile filling her lips. At the sight of colour draining from Yukie’s face, her realising her fatal mistake. Hirono looked over at her girlfriend, shooting her a devious grin. “C’mon, Hirono – get it!”

Hirono just about leapt forward, grabbed Yukie, and began to look for the key, discovering it firmly clasped in her hand within a few seconds. A brief struggle ensued, much larger than Hirono would have expected from the girl, only ending when she was knocked back hard against the wall. The key flew out of her hand and Yoshimi dived to retrieve it, letting out a yell of triumph.

“Who wants dinner?” Hirono looked around with a smile on her face. “Yoshimi, go pick something nice.”

Yoshimi nodded and quickly went to go make dinner, for once not complaining whatsoever. As Hirono, Megumi, Kaori and the recently arrived Shinji and Yutaka followed Yoshimi into the kitchen, Haruka checked to make sure Yukie was alright, gently rubbing her back. She was a bit shaken up, but not hurt.

“We need a new plan,” Haruka said. Noriko nodded along, wincing at the sound of something smashing in the kitchen.

“Yes. We really do,” Yukie sighed. It was easy to say, but she had no idea how the change would really occur.

\----

Kazuhiko waited a long time once the group had dispersed for bed. He lay there, staring up at the peeling paint of the ceiling, wondering if it was an acceptable time to go down to the sewers already. Would he be there? Would he be caught? These next few moments, he knew, had the potential to change everything. Sakura lay beside him, initially trying to get some sleep, but decided it was futile. She watched Maki, fast asleep in her basket. Dread filled her stomach.

The mall was quiet and still – eerily still. It was unsettling, but the perfect time to go. Kazuhiko carefully got out of bed, putting on his boots before placing a kiss on her forehead. It was time, he informed her, but she and Maki could stay here for now. He’d bring them down when the time was right. The fact made Sakura relax slightly, but she was still terrified for her boyfriend.

He exited the room and made his way through the mall quietly. Yugo slept peacefully in his room, as did Noriko in the room next door. Yutaka was slumped over at his desk, Shinji on the floor near him. Yoshimi was wrapped in Hirono’s arms. He felt guilty as he caught sight of all those scenes, knowing that what he was going to do could potentially destroy the group forever if it went wrong. He tried to remain optimistic. He knew what he was doing… he did.

Within several minutes, he got down into the sewers, taking care to shut the door as quietly as possible. He climbed the ladder out into the wooded area behind the mall, trying his hardest not to lose his footing.

Once he was out there, all he could do was wait. He took care examining every sound, heart racing madly as the hooded figure approached.

_Mitsuru._

“This better be as good as you say it is,” the gang leader muttered. Kazuhiko held out a hand to him.

“It is. I promise.”


	8. Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

“I… I can’t believe you came,” Kazuhiko stammered, reaching out a hand to the gang leader to lead him to the sewer entrance. He did not take it and didn’t budge, leaving the boy wondering if he had said the wrong thing. He was just being honest – as much as he had hoped Mitsuru would come, he had remained sceptical that he would actually show.

“Well, I’m here now,” Mitsuru muttered. He gave him a cold glare that he could just make out due to the moonlight. “Just because you were so damn desperate. That doesn’t mean that I’m just going to walk into this shit, though. This could easily be a trap. You told me in the note that your girlfriend would be meeting us too. Where is she?”

“She’s still in her room. I told her to wait there,” Kazuhiko said. “She was afraid. I think you understand why.”

“Guess so,” Mitsuru said. “But everything’s fine now. I showed up alone, unarmed – god, that was a fucking dumb decision – everything that I thought would make you happy. Now, what is it that you want?”

“You’ll have to come with me to find out-“ Kazuhiko began, but as somewhat expected, he was cut off.

“That just screams of a trap,” Mitsuru said, still remaining firmly in place, arms crossed. Kazuhiko still held a hand out at him, giving him a small smile that the gang leader chose to ignore. Kazuhiko still attempted to remain optimistic. He needed to get through to him. He _had_ to eventually, right?

“Come on, Mitsuru. Please trust me,” Kazuhiko moved a little closer to him. Trying to choose his words as carefully as possible, he added, “you trusted me in the old days…. Why can’t you trust me now? I’d never turn my back on you. I promise.”

Kazuhiko noticed that Mitsuru finally look him in the eye that time, as if he had finally gotten through to him. With a loud sigh, he took the boy’s hand, let him take him into the mall’s sewer entrance, proclaiming that whatever he needed to tell him had to be good. He slid the sewer cover back over once Mitsuru had climbed down, and navigated him through the dark sewer as well as he possibly could. It seemed too risky to bring down a flashlight with him.

He shut the sewer door as quietly as possible, breathing a sigh of relief when the shutting sound did not produce the large echo around the mall. He didn’t take him deep into the building, instead stepping over to the old, battered market stalls that were around the corner from the sewer entrance. Mitsuru looked around briefly, seeing absolutely nothing in the dark, giving Kazuhiko a frown. The feelings of unease returned in full force and he slid his hand down to get his gun – quickly remembering that it was gone, only making him feel even worse.

“What are you playing at? Where is she?” Mitsuru frowned. Kazuhiko motioned at him to keep his voice down.

“I’m going to get her now,” Kazuhiko said quietly. “Stay here, okay? I’ll be back in ten minutes, I promise.”

Reluctantly, Mitsuru stayed in place, watching as Kazuhiko disappeared into the mall, fading out of sight quite rapidly. He let out a sigh and shoved his hands in his pocket, wondering if giving the two a chance had been the worst decision he’d made in his life.

\---

Yugo sprung awake in such a hurry that for a brief moment, he was dizzy when he opened his eyes. He didn’t know how he knew but… something was wrong in the mall. The feeling was too odd, too real, too frightening that he knew he couldn’t just go back to sleep. He shoved on a jacket that he peeled off the floor and slowly made his way to Noriko’s room next door, keeping alert for any sort of noise.

His sister was deep in sleep, absolutely exhausted from the events of the last few days. Guilt filled his stomach as he shook her, knowing she desperately needed her rest, but he couldn’t leave things like this. If the strange feeling he had was right and they were in danger, she’d probably eventually thank him for waking her up. She began to stir after a while, mumbling something that he couldn’t make up, but she never fully opened her eyes.

“Yugo?” Noriko mumbled, letting out a small yawn. “What is it?”

“I… I don’t know what it is,” Yugo began, knowing that he already sounded like he was wasting her time, “but something is wrong. I don’t know how I know this or why but… something feels really wrong.”

“Yugo,” Noriko yawned again, obviously still half asleep. He wondered if she’d even heard everything he’d said. “It’s okay… you probably just had a nightmare. Remember, they aren’t real and you’ll be okay. Now… go back to sleep. It’s really late…”

Noriko turned over slightly and Yugo debated shaking her again, instead deciding to just try and talk to her, but it was no use. Within about three minutes, Noriko was fast asleep again, and he knew there was no getting through to her. He couldn’t go back to bed, though – if something were to happen, someone needed to know. If he went back to bed without anyone taking him seriously, he wouldn’t be able to sleep anyway, more worried than ever.

The perfect person to deal with whatever threat could be brewing came to mind as he left Noriko’s room, him debating on whether or not to return to his own after all. Hirono. While he was just about terrified of her, he knew it was worth a shot. He just needed the courage to get to her – she definitely wouldn’t be happy to be woken up, and neither would Yoshimi. However, after several minutes of debating, he swore he heard the sound of someone’s footsteps somewhere nearby, sending him quickly into action.

He just about ran down the hall to the room Yoshimi and Hirono shared, the Boutique, too afraid of whatever could be lurking out there to worry about trying to stay quiet. He lingered in the door for a moment, his fear returning to him, but eventually he willed himself to take a few steps in the door. Just as he had felt when he woke up Noriko, he felt guilty when he saw the two peaceful in sleep. Still, it had to be done.

Much unlike his sister, Hirono was wide awake in a flash, letting out a yell and several swear words as she fumbled around for the knife she kept with her at all times. Yugo staggered back as she brandished it, letting out a small yelp as he struggled to get out his words.

“S-Shimizu! It’s only me!” Yugo cried. Focusing on him, giving him a glare that could kill, Hirono got rid of the knife. Beside her, Yoshimi groaned and slowly sat up, peeling strands of her blonde hair out of her face.

“What the fuck do you want, kid?” Hirono snapped. She looked around the room for a clock before remembering where she was, continuing with her words, “you better have a damn good reason for waking us up. It’s like… eleven or something.”

“What’s going on, Hirono?” Yoshimi yawned, leaning her head back against the wall. She was largely ignored, Hirono wanting to hear what Yugo had to say and then go back to bed.

“There’s something wrong in the mall,” Yugo said. “I… I don’t know what it is, but something’s wrong. I swore I heard footsteps outside, and everything just feels off.”

“You mean… someone’s in here?” Yoshimi said, immediately jumping to conclusions. “There’s someone in the mall?! Hirono… what if it’s the Rejects? The Hornets? Do something!!”

Hirono rolled her eyes but got out of bed anyway, grabbing her knife, torch and shoving on her boots. She roughly put a hand on Yugo’s shoulder as she let out a yawn.

“Great. You got Yoshimi worried. Well done, kid,” Hirono muttered. “Let’s get this over with, okay?”

Yugo nodded nervously and the two left the room, him leading her in the direction of where he thought the footsteps came from. Slowly, Hirono shined her torch around the mall, half wishing there was something there was something to worry about.

\----

“You sure took a while,” Mitsuru muttered. Kazuhiko carefully lead Sakura over to the mark stalls, somewhat surprised he had done as asked. Immediately, Mitsuru noticed she was holding something, but wasn’t too sure what it was yet. If it was some sort of a gift, he had a feeling he’d probably end up laughing. What could they possibly offer him?

“Sorry, Kazuhiko mumbled an apology, but Sakura wasn’t going to bother. “We had to get things ready, and I thought I heard someone moving around upstairs. We wanted to wait until we were sure it was safe to come down.”

“So, can we start now?” Mitsuru snapped, his patience wearing thin. “Now that everyone’s here, now can we finally get to why you wanted to have this damn meeting? What was apparently so important that you wanted me to drop everything and come to your pathetic little mall?”

“Some things require little explanation – I think you’ll get the explanation without some long speech,” Sakura said. Now that she had truly seen Mitsuru, she wasn’t so scared anymore, just irritated to be around the person he had become. Quite hesitant, the majority of her not wanting him anywhere near her daughter, she held out Maki to him. “We wanted you to meet your niece. Maki.”

Those words wiped the look of utter annoyance off Mitsuru’s face within several seconds. Gentler than she had ever seen him, he took Maki into his arms and looked down at her, taking in the sight of her beautiful brown eyes and rocking her softly. Kazuhiko couldn’t help but smile as he watched the scene, seeing more love in his eyes than he’d seen in a long time.

“We wanted to show you that there’s something more,” Kazuhiko said. “There’s something more to all this… the gang stuff. Don’t you want to give her a good future?”

“What type of future does she have here, growing up in this dusty old mall?” Mitsuru frowned, taking a step closer to the couple. “Come on, come with me. We can protect you. We have tons of food and water, no one fucks with us, and no one would fuck with you two. They know who you guys are. Maki will grow up fine.”

“The gang life is no place for a child,” Sakura said, desperate to have her daughter back in her arms again. “We’re staying here. We both like it here, and it’s safe. They’re a great group of people. One of them, she saved my life when I was sick. She went through the city to get to the hospital. Would anyone in your little group do that?”

“Of course,” Mitsuru said. “As soon as I tell them to do something, they do it. We’re like a family. We’d die for each other. You three are no different. Come on.”

“N-no,” Kazuhiko hated himself for stammering, but he couldn’t help it. “Sakura’s comfort is my main priority. She feels safe here, she thinks it’s the right place for our daughter, I’m there for her. I don’t want to go against her wishes.”

“Seriously, Kazuhiko?” Mitsuru frowned, shooting Sakura a look as well, “and you too? Come on, guys – you’re my family. The kid’s my family… none of us have much left. We’re lucky. Come with me. We’ll keep you safe. I don’t want anything to happen to the three of us.”

“Numai,” Sakura began, not feeling comfortable or close enough to him to use his first name. She tried hard to think of the right words to explain everything without flying off the handle, but she never got the chance. A new voice entered their conversation, and her blood ran cold.

“What a lovely sight.”

Hirono stood there, shining her torch right in Mitsuru’s eyes for a moment. Yugo stood beside her, absolutely terrified at the sight of him, but Hirono just seemed more satisfied than anything. Kazuhiko stepped in front of Mitsuru and Sakura and turned to face her, shielding his eyes from the torch light now on him. He had never been good with words, but knew he had to act fast.

“Shimizu… I can explain,” Kazuhiko held his hands up, absolutely terrified.

“There’s no need to,” Hirono said. As she continued, she began to get a little louder, wanting her voice to wake the dead. “We know you’re a traitor now, Yamamoto! I knew it from the damn start, but now I have proof!

“What’s going on?” Yukie groaned, looking down from the balcony. At the same time, equally confused members of the group came out of their room, having no idea what could possibly be going on at this time of night. Automatically, they all feared the worst, Hirono taking almost glee in delivering the ‘told you so’ to the bunch.

“Yamamoto betrayed you, that’s what! He’s a fucking liar! Brought the Rejects in here!” Hirono yelled. Yoshimi stepped back in horror and Megumi and Kaori held each other’s hands for comfort, having no idea what would happen next. “I have no idea how many there are, but that one’s right in front of us! Get the bastard!”

At the moment, Mitsuru gave Maki back to Sakura and then raced away from the group, trying his hardest to find a hiding place. Kazuhiko began to feel ill, having absolutely no idea how to explain things, but he knew things were about to get so much worse. Several members of the group began to run after Mitsuru, Hirono yelling out for them to get him, and Sakura knew that she had to jump in before it got any worse.

“Can we just explain things first?” Sakura said, gently rocking Maki. “This isn’t what it looks like at all.”

“That’s what they all say!” Hirono yelled. The group watched as she began to walk over to Kazuhiko, shoving him with every ounce of her strength. “How did it feel, huh, to be playing us for a fool all this time? Did it feel good! Traitor! We aren’t going to let you get away with this!”

“I didn’t do anything!” Kazuhiko said on instinct. “Just let me find him, and then we’ll explain!”

Sakura watched as Kazuhiko ran upstairs in the direction of Mitsuru, Hirono quickly in tow. As Maki began to cry, the sick feeling in her stomach got worse.

“Like hell I’m going to let him get away! You just want to give him the signal so he can send the rest in to kill us all!” Hirono yelled. As she climbed up the stairs, she reached out to grab the hem of his shirt, making him stumble slightly. The rest of the group watched as she swung at him, her punch connecting easily with his jaw as she shouted that he was a traitor over and over.

No one knew what to do. They were frozen as Hirono continued to beat him up, having absolutely no idea what to do. Sakura watched in agony, knowing there was nothing to do to calm her down, and she had to try and get Maki calm. Kazuhiko struggled to fight back, feeling the room spin as blood ran from his nose. As he struggled to get up, he heard a voice echo around the building, and he fought hard to see where it was coming from.

“HEY!” Mitsuru came out of the shadows, looking like he wanted to kill Hirono. “If you want to fight, get over here. Leave him alone!”

Hirono kicked Kazuhiko aside and he struggled to get to the ground, watching at the very moment Mitsuru ran at Hirono. As if she suddenly realised she had challenged the scariest guy in the city to a fight, she quickly dodged. Mitsuru kept on going, however, unable to stop, and as he slipped on the cuff of his too-long pants, he began to fall backwards.

The group watched in absolute horror as Mitsuru tumbled over the balcony, letting out a bloodcurdling scream. The only thing that they heard after him hitting the ground was a crack. The sound hit Sakura, the one closest to him, the hardest. Now, she truly felt like vomiting. All she could do was stare at the body as Maki wailed and Kazuhiko rushed down the stairs, tears blurring his vision.

“No… no… no…” Kazuhiko murmured over and over, crouching down beside his body. He knew that it had happened, but he still checked his pulse, and he still had to say it. If he didn’t, he’d never be able to believe it. “He… he’s dead.”

Sakura crouched down beside him, trying to be as careful as possible with Maki, and placed a hand on her shoulder. She couldn’t help but cry with him. Even though she hadn’t known Mitsuru well, and hadn’t thought much of him at times due to the lifestyle he ended up in, she still felt awful. He had been quite different in the old days, and now, there’d be no chance of him even returning to anything that resembled the boy back then.

“Well, he’s gone,” Hirono broke the silence. Everyone looked at her in utter shock. “We better get rid of the body and check if there’s any others lurking around. Then… I guess we lock those two up, get to bed, and deal with them in the morning.”

“Can you shut up?!” Sakura yelled. Everyone’s eyes widened. “He meant what he said. This wasn’t meant to happen at all. No one was supposed to die. This was just an innocent meeting. He came here to meet his niece!”

“His… his _niece_?” Haruka said in shock. “You mean-“

“Yes. He’s my brother, Kazuhiko said, wiping his eyes as he stood up. “My half-brother. We have the same father, different mother. I wanted to reach  out to him… I thought that meeting Maki might change things. Before all this, he placed such an importance on family. I thought by knowing about Maki, I might be able to get through to him. None of this was supposed to happen. It was never supposed to be like this at all.”

“We understand, Kazuhiko,” Noriko nodded. “I’m sorry that this happened.”

“Yeah, yeah, enough of being sorry,” Yoshimi said. “There’s a… _dead body_ down there! We need to do something with it!”

“Throw it in the trash where it belongs,” Hirono immediately said. Sakura gave her a look that she had to admit scared her slightly, and she knew at that moment she should probably shut up for the time being.

“Haven’t you done enough?!” Sakura shouted. “You killed him!”

“I didn’t fucking kill him! He slipped on his own! I did not push him, I did nothing! I’d never kill anyone!” Hirono insisted, absolutely appalled Sakura would ever think she had it in her to murder anyone. It was a last resort, something that she hoped she’d never have to resolve to.

The sound of all the yelling, as well as the scene that had just unfolded, was making Yukie feel rather ill, and she knew she had to step in. Otherwise, she knew the group probably would have it in them to keep the fighting up all night.

“I have to agree with Shimizu on this one – she didn’t do anything to Numai. It was an unfortunate accident,” Yukie began, taking small, careful steps down to the two and the body at their feet. She tried hard not to look at it, but she couldn’t escape. “We need to think of a plan. We can’t leave this body here all night – or anywhere in this area either. The Rejects are going to notice that their leader is gone, and they aren’t going to be happy. We need to get the body out as soon as possible, and make sure it can’t be traced to us. If anyone finds out that Numai died here, we’ll all end up joining him.”

For now, everyone put their rage and fear aside and listened to Yukie, nodding along with her words. Haruka gave her a small smile, admiring her more than ever, admiring the fact she could take control even in situations like this, when things seemed like they couldn’t get any worse. She admired her silently, though, knowing she wouldn’t add much to the conversation. Kazuhiko was the first to speak finally, taking a few steps forward.

“I understand, Utsumi – I know things would be devastating if the Rejects found out that his death had anything to do with us,” he nodded, pausing for a moment, “but I don’t want to dump him somewhere, like he was nothing. He was my _brother_. I want to give him some sort of funeral.”

“I’m sure we can do something along those lines,” Yukie said. Noriko came down the stairs, giving her a sheet from the bedding store. Carefully, she covered Mitsuru with it, feeling more ill than ever. “We’ll have and arrange the funeral tomorrow morning. For now, as difficult and distressing as this was, we should head to bed. I’ll be in the café if anyone wants to talk or have a cup of tea to calm their nerves, but otherwise, please try to rest. This has been a difficult night for all of us, in some way or other.”

Hirono and Yoshimi departed first, wanting to distance themselves from the scene as soon as possible. After sharing a solemn look at the covered body, Shinji and Yutaka left. Kaori and Megumi left soon after that, gripping each other’s hands tightly. Soon, only Yukie, Sakura, Kazuhiko, Noriko and Yugo were left. Yugo filled the silence abruptly with his sobs, and Noriko held him tightly.

“If I hadn’t gotten Shimizu, this wouldn’t have happened!” Yugo cried. “This is all my fault!”

Guilt filled Kazuhiko as he looked up at him, placing an arm around Sakura. The words were hard to say, him barely able to believe them himself, but he wanted to try his hardest to reassure the boy.

“This wasn’t anyone’s fault. I promise it isn’t. Even if it was… it definitely wouldn’t be yours, Nakagawa. I promise.”

Though he tried, Yugo didn’t believe him.

\----

It was decided the next morning that Yukie and Noriko would accompany Sakura and Kazuhiko to the funeral. Yukie put Haruka in charge of the mall while she was gone, she the only one that she was sure could keep Hirono in check. Now that she knew the mall wouldn’t be a wreck when she left, she got herself ready as soon as possible. She managed to grab some somewhat acceptable funeral clothes from one of the many clothing piles around the mall, so now the only job left was to try and disguise herself. She wasn’t usually a wearer of makeup, but today she applied it thickly, it easily doing its job – she could barely recognise herself when she looked in the mirror.

Sakura, Kazuhiko and Noriko all stood downstairs, all in their own attempts at disguise and scraped up funeral garb. She gave them a pained smile as she greeted them, trying not to look at the shopping cart Kazuhiko gripped with dear life, containing Mitsuru’s body. Silently, the three agreed with her to head out, but she felt a hand on her shoulder before she could.

Haruka.

“Stay safe out there, okay?” Haruka gave her a smile, but the pain was obvious in her eyes. “I hope everything will go all right. I’ll take care of the place for you.”

“Thank you. I promise it will,” Yukie hugged her, and both their hearts began to beat the slightest bit faster. When they pulled away, Haruka watched as they disappeared from sight, only moving when she heard Maki crying upstairs. Yukie hadn’t explicitly said she was in charge of the baby, but she knew no one else would probably tend to her if she didn’t.

She brought Maki into the café once she had changed her, rocking her lightly as she paced around the room. As soon as she entered, she wanted to leave, but she had no idea where else to go. Hirono and Yoshimi sat together at one of the tables, Yoshimi painting her nails and Hirono fiddling with the lighter. After last night, she wasn’t going to be in the mood to speak to them for quite a while. Sure, it hadn’t been her fault, but she still couldn’t get the look of Mitsuru tumbling over the balcony out of her head as soon as she saw her face.

“Oh, hey, Haruka,” Yoshimi shot her a smile, absolutely oblivious to the girl’s feelings. She frowned when she saw Maki in her arms. “Stuck looking after Numai’s brat? That sucks. When they all get back later I can paint your nails if you like.”

Haruka just stared at her for quite a long time, unable to believe she had really just said what she was so sure she had. Once she had gotten over the shock, the anger came right to the surface, and she really couldn’t help herself.

“Seriously, Yoshimi?! Maki isn’t Numai’s _brat._ She’s his niece, and of course I’m going to look after her – no one else here will bother, and I don’t mind looking after her anyway!” Haruka yelled. “And we have more important things to do than worry about nails – like those dishes, for instance! For god’s sake, Yamamoto’s brother just died – Maki just lost her _uncle_ – and you’re painting your nails?! It’s unbelievable!”

Yoshimi looked hurt for a moment, but quickly got over it – at least on the outside – muttering something about how much of a bitch Haruka was being when she stormed out of the some people. Some people just couldn’t handle a bit of fun, it seemed.

\----

When Mitsuru didn’t get out of bed at his usual time, it was weird – but not anything that out of the out of the ordinary… he could have just hit the damn booze too hard. When he didn’t show up at breakfast, things definitely were weird, but Mitsuko didn’t truly get that something was wrong until she went to Mitsuru’s room herself to see what the hell was going on with him, finding nothing there but an unmade bed, his guns and knives by his bedside table, and his heavy boots gone. Something had happened, and she needed to know what it was.

The Rejects were gathered outside the hotel, their base, standing around Mitsuko as she stood on the front of the police car, waiting desperately to hear what she had to say. She couldn’t help but smirk to herself as she looked out at them, all so loyal, all so _pathetic._ If she asked them to jump off a cliff, she knew they’d do it in a heartbeat. It was just what she always wanted.

When she was sure they wouldn’t be able to last another minute without being given the news she desperately needed to deliver, she spoke.

“It has come to my attention this morning that we have a problem that we must deal with. Mitsuru, our leader, our founder, is missing. I figured that out quickly this morning. Do not panic – do not waste your breath on something you don’t need to fear. We are going to find him, and make the fucker that messed with him pay. In his absence, I will lead. I’m sure that Mitsuru would want no one else in charge of his search party, no?”

As expected, everyone quickly nodded. The display almost made her laugh, but she refrained.

“Let’s not waste any more time. We will find him. We won’t stop until we do. I hope you’re all ready.”

The Rejects, as expected again, all cheered and said they were. As soon as Mitsuko had climbed in, the police car took off, the sirens blaring for a completely different reason than normal. As they went along, Mitsuko just watched and observed, a strange thought coming to her for the first time – what if Mitsuru not being found was for the _best_?

\----

The funeral party decided to send Mitsuru off at the beach – a burial at sea. It was far enough from the mall, they decided, and Kazuhiko was sure that Mitsuru would be able to find peace if he was laid to rest there. He carefully navigated the shopping cart down the sand, relieved to find the beach empty. It was a beautiful day, the sun shining, the sea calm – the type of day he wished he could share with his brother in older, happier times. Hurt filled him as he looked out to sea, but he forced himself to say something. If he didn’t, he knew he probably would never start the funeral process.

“T-there’s a boat over there,” Kazuhiko pointed, “beside that shack in there. We could send him off to sea.”

“I like that idea,” Yukie nodded, giving him a strained smile. “We should go check the shack, just in case we can find anything there.”

Kazuhiko nodded. Noriko decided to be the one to stay at the body, fixing her eyes on the beautiful view of the sea instead. Sakura, Yukie and Kazuhiko struggled hard to pull the boat over to where Noriko was, taking a small check of the shack before they’d taken it too far away. After producing a rather rare can of fuel and a variety of flammable items, the final plan was decided – they would send Mitsuru out to see in a burning boat. He and Sakura both agreed that it would be fitting, and Noriko and Yukie just nodded along with him – they didn’t feel like they were in a proper position to comment.

“Do you want to say anything? Before we… send him off?” Yukie asked, watching as Kazuhiko shakily picked up the fuel can. He nodded slightly, unwrapping the sheet to see his brother’s face one last time. He noticed then that Noriko had closed his eyes, and he silently thanked her for the gesture. He gently retrieved the talisman he wore around his neck and gripped it tightly, deciding that he wanted to keep it with him, wanting one final reminder of the brother he lost too soon.

“Goodbye, Mitsuru. I didn’t want to say goodbye so soon, but I hope at the very least you find peace, and have a safe journey to the other side. Everyone will be waiting for you – they’ll all be so happy to see you. Your mother. Your siblings. Our dad…. You’ll be okay there. They’ll take care of you. So… that’s all I guess. Goodbye. I’m going to miss you every day of my life.”

With a deep breath, he set the boat alight and they set it out to sea. He held Sakura close as they watched the boat burn, tears flowing down his face. It was the complete end of an era – not just for the two of them, but for every person in the city. With Mitsuru gone, life was going to change forever, in more ways than one.


	9. Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine

Noriko was the one of the first to awaken the morning after Mitsuru’s funeral. Despite the group being the same size as it had been the day before, the mall felt emptier than ever, and she was almost hesitant to get out of bed. It was as if the size of the place had expanded overnight, her feeling incredibly small as she walked through the halls. She tried her hardest not to dwell on it, but it was impossible not to feel a thing, especially when she stopped by the balcony, seeing Kazuhiko standing there, staring down at the ground below.

It hit her like a ton of bricks, even though she already knew. It really seemed to sink in this time. Someone _died_ here.

“Do you mind if I join you?” Noriko mumbled as she walked up beside Kazuhiko, gripping the railing tightly as she attempted to scrub the thoughts from her head. He looked over at her for a minute, the pain in his eyes still evident as he forced himself to smile, not wanting to appear rude. She placed a hand on his shoulder for a moment, as if to say, _it’s all right. You don’t have to be strong anymore if you don’t want to._

“Sure. It… it’s nice to have company, I guess. You stand here for too long by yourself and… well, the thoughts aren’t so pretty,” Kazuhiko said. Noriko nodded at him, trying her hardest not to look down at that dreadful spot where Mitsuru died, but it was inevitable. The entire awful moment came flooding back, and she gripped the balcony railing tight again.

“I understand,” Noriko said softly, letting out a small sigh. “It’s so unfair what happened – such a horrible accident because of a misunderstanding. Yugo told me he’s so, so sorry. He still think it’s all his fault, what happened. If he hadn’t gone to get Shimizu, then you guys probably wouldn’t have found out… and Mitsuru would still be here…”

“I don’t blame him at all – it’s my fault. If I didn’t bring him here in the first place, none of this would have happened. I was so stupid,” Kazuhiko let out a sigh, head in his hands. “What did I think I was going to achieve?”

“You had faith, Yamamoto, which a lot of people don’t have anymore. It’s honourable that you still have that quality,” Noriko gave him a small smile, but it quickly faded away. While she was trying to stay positive, it really didn’t feel right. “He… he was different before the virus struck, wasn’t he?”

“Yeah, he was,” Kazuhiko looked at her, it his turn to smile a little, it a rather bittersweet moment. “He was gentle. Always would run to help someone with their groceries, or help a kid find their parents if they got lost. He was always doing things for other people. If anyone picked on a girl, he’d make them pay. He didn’t like it when people pointed out these things – he liked the tough image, but it never swallowed him up until the virus came. Things had happened before then, but he still seemed to be happy… I wonder if the virus was the last straw… or if something else happened at that time to make him go over the edge. He did start making some new… _friends_ around then.”

“I would have liked to meet him back then,” Noriko nodded. “I wish things could have been different… he was lost. Things could have changed – _he_ could have changed. Maybe, once he realised he had a niece to protect and he talked to you a little more, he could have seen that there is something out there worth building a new world for. If only…”

Noriko cut herself off after that. Talking about what could have been wasn’t going to fix anything, and would instead just make it all worse for the both of them.

“Yeah. But we’ll never know,” Kazuhiko said solemnly, staring down at the spot where his half-brother had died several nights ago. As much as he tried to stop it, all the what could have beens kept running through his head, only succeeding in making him feel even guiltier about the whole situation. “If I had even done the _slightest_ thing differently… he might still be here. That’s the worst part.”

“You did what you though was best, Yamamoto. That’s what matters the most. There was no malice in your actions,” Noriko nodded at him. She took a slight step closer to him and put her hand on his shoulder again, trying her hardest to appear reassuring. “I think we still have some tea left in the food store. Would you like me to make us some? It might help calm your nerves… even if it’s just for a little while.”

“That sounds great, Nakagawa,” Kazuhiko gave her a pained smile, wanting any sort of distraction from the thoughts buzzing around in his head.

Noriko left for the kitchen after he gave his response, and once he was sure she was gone, he pulled an object from his pocket. It was selfish of him to have it, he knew that, but when it came down to sending Mitsuru off, he just couldn’t do it. The talisman had been everything to him before he had ended up in his new life, and he was sure even after everything happened, it had to still retain the same meaning to him. It embodied him entirely, the main reason why he should have let him keep it with him on his journey into the next life, but at the same time, it was the main reason why he couldn’t let it go.

The talisman was also quite important in the scheme of things. He didn’t want to let it go, holding onto it so tightly that he almost began to bleed as the design cut into his skin, but one day, it could come down to that in order to save his life – the lives of the whole group, actually. It was a rather powerful thing, but he still hoped that he’d never have to give it up. For now, he was going to keep it close and hold onto every memory he could, and would deal with giving it up if the time came.

Mitsuko would have to have noticed that Mitsuru was gone, he knew. What she was going to do was the more important thing to focus on – she was either going to spend every last ounce of her energy looking for any trace of him, or spend all her time slowly but surely trying to pretend he never existed. He didn’t know what outcome was worse, or what made him angrier. Whether she tried to preserve his memory or not, he knew that if she found out that he had died in the mall, things were going to quickly become bleak for the group.

It wasn’t the time to think about that, however. A scream from the kitchen completely cut through his thoughts, sending him into action. He placed the talisman back in his pocket and ran in the direction of the noise, hearing some footsteps around him as he went. He stopped at the kitchen’s entrance to see Noriko backing away from the kitchen table.

“What’s going on?” Yukie frowned, arriving in the kitchen not too long after Kazuhiko did. She looked over at the table, which was riddled with dishes, but still couldn’t figure out what the source of Noriko’s problem was.

“We have a problem,” Noriko stepped further away from the kitchen table, a frown filling her face. “Vermin!”

“Vermin?!” Yoshimi shouted, immediately taking several steps completely out of the dining area. “What are we going to do?! We can’t keep _rats_ in here! That’s disgusting!”

“I knew this was going to happen,” Yukie frowned. “This is why everyone needs to actually pitch in and help! I know that the events of the past few days have been difficult and our minds have been focused on other things, but I swear that the majority of this pile has been here for almost a week. There’s no use evading the Rejects if we’re taken out by disease, right?”

Several members of the group gave her a nod, but Yoshimi was having none of it. As the squeaking from the pile became a little louder, she stepped away more. She grabbed Hirono’s hand, as if just having contact with her would make the whole problem go away, and added her piece to the conversation.

“Well, what do you expect me to do about all of it?! I don’t want to get a disease from touching all this filth! Go give yourself something, and leave me out of it!” Yoshimi then stormed out of the café, with Hirono deciding to follow suit. Yukie sighed and let her go, knowing that she’d have to figure out some other time to reign them in – she’d have to find some way to do it.

“I guess they’re out,” Haruka muttered from her spot leaning against the wall of the café. Yukie had to admit she was relieved by the sight of her, knowing that there was one person that was going to stay on her side through the mess. “But there’s still plenty of us here to deal with the problem. I’m sure if the rest of us chip in, we’ll be done in only a few hours.”

“Haruka’s right,” Yukie shot a smile over at the remaining members of the group. “Come on – who’s in?”

Megumi and Kaori mumbled a ‘sorry’ to Yukie and then departed, deciding that the situation was far too disgusting for them to deal with, Yugo slinking off with them. Sakura was the only one that had an excuse to leave, the group decided, not wanting her to risk her fragile health. Shinji was thinking of leaving, but once he noticed that Yutaka was staying, decided to follow suit. It couldn’t be too bad if he was around, right?

Looking around at their small team of Noriko, Haruka, Shinji, Kazuhiko and Yutaka, Yukie tried her hardest to stay positive. It was still a somewhat reasonable number… they’d be able to deal with the problem still. She was just grateful that she wasn’t standing there alone.

“Let’s get to it, shall we?” Yukie looked over at the group, trying to keep control over the situation.

They all gave her a small nod and slowly approached the pile, wishing that they were anywhere else. As they all began to deal with the issue, Yukie knew that if she didn’t do something, this would just happen again – and possibly at a worse scale. As soon as she was finished with this problem, she was going to do something, already knowing exactly what they needed.

Whether the group liked it or not, it needed to be done.

\---

The efforts of the Rejects’ numerous search parties had given them nothing. They had searched high and low for their beloved leader, though the casinos, their old hangouts, various warehouses, and any other places that they were so sure Mitsuru would be, and found not even the slightest hint of a lead. This had sent waves through the entire group, with everyone unsettled and mumblings spreading through the new recruits to the highest ranking members of the gang. For the first time since the virus had wiped out all the adults, they felt unsure about their position at the top. Without Mitsuru, what were they?

Mitsuko hadn’t not noticed the stirrings of the group, and knew it was up to her to do something. Mitsuru being gone had unsettled her as well, not that she would ever admit it, their usual routine coming to a screeching halt. She still wasn’t sure whether he was still alive or not, but if he was dead, his killer was going to pay, no matter what decision she decided to make. For now, she had to pretend that he was not coming back – at least, when she was alone, and make the decisions that would keep her at the top of the pyramid.

She hadn’t fought her way to this position, she knew that. She was only where she was because of Mitsuru, even though she had pretty much made him herself. He saw her as an equal and because of this she was leader as well, but at the end of the day, only second in-command, just because whatever he said went. If his disappearance continued, there was no doubt that people would start to question her position, whether they were afraid of her or not.

Once she had figured out what she was going to say, she organised a meeting before they preceded with the day’s events. Standing on top of their trademark police car, she looked out at the crowd. It was obvious from first glance that everyone was unsettled, with light mumblings going through the entire bunch as they waited for her beginning to speak. She wondered how much of it was about her, but it wouldn’t be something she needed to care about by the end of the day.

When she was sure that everyone of note had arrived, she began.

“Brothers, sisters, thank you for gathering here promptly this morning. I hope that despite the events of the past few days, you all managed to have a decent rest. We’ll need all our energy to track down our leader. I am sure he’s out there, it’s all just a matter of finding him… and making whoever has him, god forbid, regret their decision,” she paused for a moment, letting them all yell out in agreement with her statement.

 _Such sheep,_ she tried her hardest to hide a smirk. _This is almost ridiculous._

“I’m sure that you would all agree that having proper leadership during our operations is highly nessecary. Otherwise, how will we ever manage to find Mitsuru? Our great leader always valued impeccable organisation and leadership skills, and during this time, despite the fact he is currently not with us, this fact is no different. As closest to Mitsuru and co-founder of this tribe, I think I have a great knowledge of his values. Despite our lack of results, I consider myself to have lead the search party effectively during this time of confusion. I believe that this will transfer effectively over to leadership of the tribe as a whole. Mitsuru would want no one else to lead in his absence, so as a result, I decree myself queen, at his command. Does anyone have any objections to this notion?”

The mention of what Mitsuru would want was enough to get the Rejects to all accept the idea enthusiastically – just what she was expecting. As the cheers began, she watched as the group all began to bow to her, one of the most glorious sights she had seen in a long time. The only thing that made it better was when the cheers began to transform from an unintelligible cry into her name.

“So it is settled. I suppose now that we have dealt with this issue, we should begin today’s search?” Mitsuko asked. Immediately, shouts of approval began. “Let’s find our great leader and make it clear that the Rejects – the greatest tribe in this city – will not sit back and let themselves be messed with. Do you all hear me?!”

The shouts of approval started up again as the group got ready to leave for the day, hoping desperately that today would be the day they’d get some results. Mitsuko climbed inside the police car, standing as she and Mitsuru used to side by side, enjoying the aftermath of her speech. Her smile only faded when she realised that _someone_ had decided they wanted to share the coveted spot with her.

Tadakatsu. Their hatred from one another was a thinly veiled thing, the two only tolerating each other because of Mitsuru. Now that he was gone, the door was open to dispose of him if their leader didn’t return – but would have to be done carefully. Tadakatsu was well-liked by almost the whole tribe, and him suddenly disappearing would definitely cause a wave through the whole tribe. It was much too risky.

But that didn’t mean that she couldn’t put him in his place.

“Hatagami… what are you doing?” Mitsuko said quietly, knowing the need for choosing her words carefully.

“I thought that another person would be needed up here… to avoid suspicion, I guess. Since I have reasonable standing and Mitsuru likes-“ Tadakatsu began, trying his hardest not to say the words through gritted teeth. Something he despised more than Mitsuko herself was the fact that as soon as she began speaking to him, he immediately felt ten times smaller.

“So you think that you know Mitsuru’s wishes better than I do? Did you help found this tribe? Were you the one there with him when his parents died? When he split from his half-brother? When he finally figured out what he wanted in this world and how to get it? _Who_ was the one by his side through all of that, as his closest confidant?” Mitsuko asked him, her words eerily calm. “Come on, Hatagami. Enlighten me.”

“I-it was you,” Tadakatsu stammered, hating himself for it. “You were the one there by his side through all those things.”

“Precisely,” Mitsuko nodded. “That’s why I’m the one able to make these decisions. I know what Mitsuru would want if he were here. Do you understand me?”

Tadakatsu gave her a quick nod and stepped out of his police car, putting his skates back on in place of his boots. He took his place behind the police car, skating behind it as they went off, unable to hide his sour expression. Instead of focusing on the matter at hand, he couldn’t help but retreat into his thoughts.

 _How can I be the only one who sees it_? He thought to himself bitterly. _It has to change. If Mitsuru doesn’t come back, things are going to change. She has to start changing things – and then, people aren’t gonna like it. That’s when they’ll wake up – and things are going to get really fucking ugly. I just have to wait._

\---

Once the problem in the café was cleared up after several hours of hard work, Yukie sprang into action. For several hours she was basically unheard of as she devised her plan, working carefully to try and make everything as perfect as possible. After she had looked over the plan several times, altering it to try and minimise as many arguments as possible, she called everyone to meet in the café.

When everyone had arrived, she stuck the piece of paper up on the wall, waiting for the questions to come. Before anyone could cut in, she launched into the words that were somewhat pre-prepared. She needed to get this right. Getting everyone to get along was going to be incredibly difficult, and her plan could end up upsetting the balance a little, but she could try. At the end of the day, it just needed to be done.

“I think we can all agree that what happened this morning can’t end up happening again,” Yukie began, and everyone shared a nod. “So in these past few hours, I’ve been busy working on a rota for the chores. I’ve tried my hardest to make it as fair as possible. We all need to pitch in to keep this place running – it’s our _home_.”

When Hirono and Yoshimi peered over at the work rota, Yukie knew trouble was coming. She had predicted they would be the hardest to deal with and had braced herself for an argument, but who knew what they were going to come out with? When their faces morphed into glares as they found their names and duties on the rota, she waited for their complaints, knowing that it was only a matter of time.

“Tanizawa and I are on dish duty?! I’m sorry, but I just can’t do that. I know you need the help and all… but I need to save my nails. I can’t go running out of nail polish – it’s not like I can just go down to the shop and buy some,” Yoshimi said, stepping away from the rota.

“I seem to notice that with all this time spent with your shitty housework routine, we have no time for anything else that’s pretty important – like _defence_. Come on, I can’t be alone with this. What about you two – Mimura? Seto? You were talking about setting up an alarm system. How can you get any of that stuff done if you’re stuck slaving over a pile of dishes all day?” Hirono looked over at them, shoving her hands in her pockets.

“She has a point,” Shinji stepped forward. “Keeping the place secure is just as important as keeping it clean.”

“I know,” Yukie looked over at them, then back at the roster. “And you will have time to deal with those affairs, _after_ your duties are dealt with. Come on – divided up between the lot of us, it isn’t that much of a workload.”

“Yukie’s right,” Haruka gave the group a small smile before turning to Yoshimi. “How about we start attacking those dishes? I’ll wash and you’ll dry – that way, you don’t have to worry about your nails. How does that sound?”

“Sorry, Haruka, but I don’t want to risk it. I only have a few bottles left,” with that, Yoshimi left the café.

Yukie let out a deep sigh and scanned the roster. She knew that it was going to be difficult, but she was not going to let her hard work crumble into an utter failure. Choosing to brush off Yoshimi’s departure, figuring that she’d deal with her later, she read out the next name on the list, wanting to just get on with it.

“Mimura, you’re up next on the list – food foraging with Seto. Can you both head out and see what you can find?”

To her absolute surprise, Shinji nodded. He hated to be torn away from him and Yutaka’s prospective plan, but at the same time, he wasn’t in the mood to get in an argument. The fact that Yutaka was coming with him didn’t hurt either. The two left the café together and went to gather their things, and Yukie went on to disperse the rest of the chores. She watched as the rest of the group left the café to begin their work, and she allowed herself to let out a small sigh of relief. It wasn’t going to be this easy, but for now, she was going to take whatever success she could get.

\---

Despite the danger that could possibly lurk around them, Shinji and Yutaka were relieved to get out of the mall for a while. It provided them some time to get away from the drama that just had to be brewing, and gave them some time together that wasn’t going to be interrupted by fighting. Even if it was something as boring as food foraging, it was still time together. They needed to take whatever they could get.

“So, where do you think we should head next?” Yutaka asked, carefully exiting the building that they’d just searched. Shinji looked over at him and wished he could give him an answer, but it was impossible to really say anything. The Rejects probably had the largest food supply in the city, and no doubt had some sort of supplier outside of it.

_Fucking bastards. They don’t deserve shit, but they’re sitting on a gold mine. That’s just how it goes, though. It was even like that in the old days._

“I’m not sure – our best bet is to just search wherever we come across, taking caution of course. At least we’re not gonna go back empty-handed. Catch?” Shinji tossed over their findings, one cabbage, and Yutaka scrambled to open the bag they’d brought along.

Yutaka dived forward to catch the cabbage and narrowly, it landed in the bag. As it did, however, something tumbled out of the bag and he looked down to see a baseball mitt and ball itself on the pavement below. His stomach sank at the sight, immediately wondering whatever happened to the person who owned it before the virus, but he tried to brush the thoughts away.

“Played baseball? You know… before all this?” Yutaka asked shakily, picking up the baseball and the mitt.

“Wasn’t really one for baseball. Basketball was more my thing when it came to sports,” Shinji gave him a nod. Yutaka could imagine him as a basketball star, envisioning him in his jersey running down the court and winning the game for his team. He’d probably have tons of admirers in the crowd… and who could blame them? He tried his hardest to hide the redness that spread through his cheeks at his thoughts.

“Oh… that’s cool,” Yutaka squeaked, trying to wipe the thoughts away completely. _What good will it do you? Thinking about that isn’t gonna help you at all._

“Want to play for a while?” Shinji tossed him the mitt and Yutaka managed to catch it, slipping it on. He knew that they should be foraging, and they’d have to deal with Yukie snapping at them, but it had been a long time since he’d had any fun. It had been even longer since he’d even wanted to have any fun, with all their craziness of their world, but now, in this moment with Yutaka, it honestly felt right.

Yutaka gave him a nod, forgetting all about Yukie and their responsibilities to the group for a while. They tossed the ball around between one another for a while as they began to talk about anything and everything, it one of the first times they’d actually had a conversation about something that didn’t involve technology or a prospective invention. Shinji quickly learnt to steer away from the topic of life before the pandemic, sensing it struck a nerve for Yutaka.

_He’s obviously one of the ones that really lost a lot during this shit. One of the unlucky ones._

As Yutaka threw the ball back to Shinji, him catching it with ease, a noise sent both of them into alert. Their game forgotten, they looked over to see a cluster of black-clothed figures racing towards them. The lack of police sirens and no sign of the trademark police car let them know that it wasn’t the Rejects (the fact that they both knew they were probably investigating Mitsuru’s disappearance also helped them figure it out), but they knew that didn’t mean they were out of danger.

When the group’s trademark chant came out, coupled with a bunch of threats, Shinji figured out exactly who they were.

“The Hornets!” on instinct, he took Yutaka’s hand and pulled him in the direction he hoped would lead them to safety. He had a knife in his belt, but there was no doubt that the second most powerful tribe in the city would have guns, rendering his weapon useless.

Yutaka let Shinji guide him to safety, knowing he had more experience in this area than he did. Since his father had directed him to seek refuge in the mall, he’d barely ever left, making him one of the only kids in the city that really didn’t know the true harshness of the streets. The group continued to pursue them as they ran, and the fact that there was no move to shoot them made Shinji realise exactly what they wanted: they wanted to capture them, not have a quick kill for fun.

He cursed the group under his breath as they approached a large fence, the group having more time to catch up to the both of them as he tried to figure out how to successfully climb it. Yutaka let him go first, trying to focus on watching him climb instead of the mad beating of his heart. Shinji dropped down successfully onto the other side, hearing the sounds of shouts on the other side as the Hornets got even closer to the two.

Yutaka jumped up, gripping the fence as tightly as he could, trying not to get his fear get the best of him. Coupled with his lack of experience, he almost slipped several times, but he tried his hardest to keep his footing, reaching the top after some difficulty. As he went to jump over, he felt someone grab his legs, and he fought hard not to fall then and there. Unable to help it, he let out a scream as he tried to hold on, but he knew there were too many Hornets to hold on for too long.

He wanted to tell Shinji to go off without him, not wanting to put such an important member of the group in danger, but he couldn’t will himself to shout out to him. Was he gone already? It made sense. Sure, they were members of the same group – but they weren’t even a tribe, and were basically strangers. The thought of Shinji leaving him did make sense, but it sadly seemed logical in this new world.

At the feeling of someone pulling his arms, his eyes widened. With a display of strength he didn’t think he had, he managed to free one of his legs, kicking one of the Hornets in the face. The action freeing his other leg, he helped Shinji pull himself over, tumbling over onto the other side. He dusted himself off quickly and began to run again, knowing they had no time to waste, but still tried to use all his remaining strength to save something.

“You… you saved me…” Yutaka said between deep breaths. For a brief moment, Shinji met his eyes.

“I couldn’t leave you behind,” he didn’t know why, but the thought of leaving the boy in the Hornets’ clutches, even if saving him put himself in his danger, was something he just couldn’t make himself do. He held his gaze for longer than expected, only breaking it when he heard the sounds of the fence, indicating that the Hornets were still hot on their heels.

“What are we going to do?” Yutaka asked. He felt as if he was going to die, but he still kept running. He’d never been an athletic boy, but in this moment, no one would have been able to tell. He figured that was a side-effect of the whole well, running for your life thing.

“We need to split up,” Shinji said, breathing heavily as well by this point, despite the fact he held much more athletic ability than Yutaka. “I know it sounds insane, but it’ll buy us some time, and we’re more likely to lose them. Are you up for it?”

Yutaka gave him a hurried nod and after figuring out the right moment, they split. He couldn’t help but look back for a moment as they went their separate ways, chanting the same thing over and and over in his head. _Please, please get back safe. Come on._

\---

“Okay, I think this calls for a break,” Megumi looked over at Kaori, and after the girl gave her a nod of agreement, they dropped their brooms in unison. They figured that other than Shinji, Yutaka and Yukie, they were probably the only other two that had gotten stuck into the chores, but had ultimately decided that enough was enough. Cleaning up had  become harder than they’d once thought it was.

The two took a seat on the side of the elaborate fountain they’d been sweeping by, an echo of the mall’s former glory. They promised themselves that they’d get stuck into it in a moment, that they’d just take a minute or so to catch their breath, but that was quickly forgotten once a distraction came their way. Yoshimi was passing by, fiddling with a pack of cards, and as scared of her as they were (mainly due to her close relationship with Hirono), they weren’t just going to let an excuse to get away from chores pass them by.

“Hey,” Megumi got up and approached her, the slightly more confident one. “What are you doing?”

“I found this pack of cards a while ago. I just hadn’t figured out what to do with them yet,” as a bright idea hit her, she beamed. “Hey... would you two be interested in learning how to play poker?”

The two gave Yoshimi an enthusiastic nod, wanting any sort of distraction from the chores. They quickly left their discarded brooms behind and followed her down to the mall’s service area, the first place she figured that they wouldn’t be disturbed by Yukie. They set up a little place to play with some milk crates, and Yoshimi began to teach them the rules. Once she was sure that they understood, she decided to figure out what they’d be playing for.

“So… there’s no use in playing unless one of us walks away with something sweet, right?” Yoshimi looked over at the two, them giving her a hurried nod. “You know what I think would be fun? Winner does the losers’ chores for the day. I think that’s a good place to start. Then, if you want to play another time, bring something good to bet.”

Yoshimi, Megumi and Kaori began, the two newcomers hoping that they’d be able to have some sort of beginners luck, but ultimately, Yoshimi won. Megumi then asked for a rematch, hoping that they’d manage to save themselves somehow, but four failed games later, they decided to walk away with the four days’ worth of chores and get stuck into them.

“Thanks for playing guys, that was fun,” Yoshimi smiled at them, collecting the cards. “Thanks for taking my chores, too. It’s a real relief. I suggest starting with washing the windows… they look a little nasty.”

Kaori and Megumi exchanged a look as Yoshimi departed, trying their hardest not to groan as they left the service area. After managing to find some adequate window washing supplies, they got stuck into the job, wanting to get as much over with as possible. When Kaori saw Yukie’s reflection in the window, she felt herself freeze, while Megumi began to rifle through her head for excuses.

“Why are you two doing chores that aren’t yours?” Yukie frowned. Megumi prepared to say something, anything, to get them out of the mess, but she was stopped by the sound of heavy breathing and loud footsteps. Shinji had returned from food foraging finally, with Yutaka having returned half an hour earlier. When they realised they were now off the hook, Megumi and Kaori scrambled away.

“I’m back,” Shinji said, holding out the bag of food. “Chased by the Hornets. We found what we could beforehand.”

He opened the bag and prepared to retrieve the lone cabbage, but the baseball mitt tumbled out before he could. With a frown, Yukie picked it up, holding it up with a raised eyebrow. As he tried to figure out an excuse, he dug out the cabbage, holding it out to her as some sort of peace offering.

“I don’t think there’s much nutrition in a baseball mitt, is there,” Yukie gave him a frown, tossing it at his feet. She took the cabbage from him carefully, grateful that he and Yutaka had come back with at least something, even if it was a rather disappointing result.

Her frustration heightened as Yoshimi flounced by, shooting a disgusted look at her as she proclaimed her hatred of cabbage. While she knew that she had an aversion to the rota from the beginning, the sight of yet another person not doing their duties was just about enough to send her to the edge. A part of her wished that she could just pack up and go home, but that was never going to be an option in this world.

“Yahagi, why aren’t you helping Haruka with the dishes?” Yukie frowned.

“I’m resting,” Yoshimi simply told her, walking away without another word. Yukie looked back over to continue her conversation with Shinji, but found that he had slinked off while she’d been talking to Yoshimi. At that, she couldn’t help but let out a sigh. She’d predicted difficulties with the rota system… but not complete disaster.

She wasn’t going to give up, however. With a determined look, she looked over at the café, and decided that yet again, she had a plan.

\---

When Hirono had arrived at the café to find no smell of dinner, she had the feeling something was amiss. At the sight of everyone sitting around the table with blank expressions on their faces, her thoughts were confirmed. Just to check things out for herself, she peeked into the kitchen, finding it completely empty. The food store was locked, there were no pots on the cooker, no sign of activity at all. Absolutely enraged, she marched over to the rota just as Yukie arrived on the scene.

“What’s going on?” Hirono glared at the girl, pointing a finger accusingly at the work rota. “Nakagawa is meant to be making us dinner. Same with you.”

“I gave her the night off, and I decided I didn’t want to cook tonight,” Yukie looked over at her, determination in her eyes. “After all, if you guys don’t do your chores, why should I do mine.”

“That’s not right, you know. It’s different for us-“ Hirono tried to say, but Yukie quickly cut her off.

“How is it different, Shimizu? Come on, tell me,” Yukie waited for an answer, but nothing came. When she realised that she had been outsmarted, Hirono was angrier than ever, but still couldn’t come up with anything . The entire situation had left her stuck on her words.

Luckily for Hirono, Yoshimi was there to fill in the gaps.

“Bossy cow,” she snapped. “Who made you leader? We don’t want to do this shit. Can’t you understand that?”

Yukie took a deep breath and stepped forward, placing the key to the food store on the table.

“I tried to take control of you guys, because someone had to, but to be honest, I’m done,” Yukie looked at the group. Yutaka hung his head, but couldn’t think of anything to say. “Live like pigs if you wish. Just know that I tried to fix things, but it’s obvious that you guys didn’t want my help. Go on.”

With that, Yukie left the café, Haruka quickly going after her. The rest of the group remained in the café, their stomachs getting the best of them. Hirono snatched up the key in triumph, a smirk spreading across her face as she looked over at Yoshimi.

“Care to whip us up something?” Hirono handed her the key. Yoshimi gave her a frown, but went off to start cooking all the same. _Sure, it’s annoying… but at least it’s not_ Yukie _asking._

\---

While the majority of the group had managed to get back to an almost normal sleeping routine, Sakura and Kazuhiko still struggled to get through the night, and it had nothing to do with Maki. He sat on the bed while his girlfriend took care of their child, trying to will himself to do something, anything, but the sound of Mitsuru’s body hitting the floor of the mall kept replaying over and over in his mind. He wondered if he would ever be able to get a decent sleep again, it feeling like it was miles away.

“Kaz?” Sakura asked softly, stepping away from Maki once she was able to get her to sleep. She took a seat beside him on the bed, placing an arm around them. They hadn’t talked much since Mitsuru had died, neither of them being able to find the right words despite their closeness. “I know you’re hurting right now. We both are, but especially you. If you want to talk – about anything, not just this, I’ll be here, I promise.”

Kazuhiko gave her a small smile, wrapping her into a hug. He placed a kiss on her forehead and tried to figure out the way to start the conversation. While the grief he was burdened with remained on his mind, the thing he could only mention to his girlfriend seemed like the more important thing to talk about at the moment.

“I’ve just been thinking about what’s going to happen next,” Kazuhiko said. “With the Rejects. Souma’s going to take control as soon as they realise he isn’t coming back. It has to happen – there’s no way she’ll let anyone else take his role.”

“Of course not,” Sakura frowned as her memories of the girl came back. Just the very thought of what she’d done to them sent rage running through her. “If she finds out about what happened here, we’re all dead. Her taking control of the Rejects means a lot of people are going to die as well.”

Kazuhiko nodded at her solemnly. Things in the city were going to get worse – he was sure, and sleep now seemed further away than ever.


	10. Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten

The last thing Yukie wanted to see when she got up the next morning was the sight of Haruka slaving over a pile of dishes in the kitchen. If everything had gone to plan, the dinner dishes would be gone and the girl may have been able to have a little more sleep, but instead, she was left with yet another sign that her work rota was a failure. As bad as it sounded, she had been hoping that her storm out last night would have made them feel guilty enough to kick into gear, but it of course had meant nothing. It really felt that sometimes, all the majority of the group thought of was themselves.

“Care for a bit of help?” Yukie asked, rolling up her sleeves. Haruka gave her a smile when she saw her, the strained look in her eyes fading a little, but Yukie could still tell that she was quite frustrated. She couldn’t blame her one bit.

“Thank you,” Haruka breathed a sigh of relief as she began to dry and put away the dishes. “I didn’t want to be stuck with all this alone, but at the same time, I knew I couldn’t ask anyone. They really seem to be content to live like pigs – I don’t know how they can live like this! Do they have any sort of care for their surroundings at all?! We’ve managed to survive this long – even through the whole Mitsuru fiasco, and we’re threatening to become unstuck by the _chores?!_ ”

“I understand where you’re coming from,” Yukie sighed. “Everyone’s just become so stuck in the ‘there’s no adults, so there’s no rules’ thing that no one seems to remember that we actually _do_ have responsibilities that we need to keep up with. That’s why it’s going to be so hard to rebuild the world, with all those wild kids out there… but what’s the point in talking about that? How am I going to help rebuild our world if I can’t even get our own group together?”

“Yukie…” Haruka sighed. “Don’t think like that. I thought you had _hope_. We need to keep our hope, or no matter what we do, whether we get everyone to work or don’t get caught by the Rejects, this is all going to crumble. You have to keep going.”

Yukie gave her a small smile that made her melt a little, giving her enough strength to try and brush away the thoughts of the work rota’s failure and go on with the dishes. They worked in silence mostly, venting their frustrations whenever they came to mind. One thing in particular got on Haruka’s nerves, and without thinking, she accidentally let a plate smash into pieces on the side of the sink.

At her cry of pain, Yukie sprang into action. Gently, she took her non-cut hand and lead her down the stairs to her room, helping her sit down on the bed while she fished around for the few medical supplies she’d managed to find when she’d moved into the room. While the jewellery shop, the liquor store, and the pill sections of the pharmacy, both behind and over the counter, were stripped bare, she’d managed to find some bandages and two very precious bottles of disinfectant.

“I’m sorry,” Haruka said, biting her lip hard to avoid cursing as Yukie cleaned the cut. “I just got so frustrated – I wasn’t thinking straight. I… I know it’s bad, but sometimes I really _hate_ some of them sometimes.”

“That’s understandable, I guess,” Yukie gave her a small nod, not wanting to admit that she’d felt the same way at times. She gently began to wrap up the cut, remembering how she had watched her mother and some of her colleagues over the years before the virus struck. Haruka couldn’t help but blush every time their hands touched, no matter how many times she told herself that it was nothing.

 _She’s just bandaging your hand. She’s doing what any decent person would do in this situation. It doesn’t mean anything else. It just_ can’t _mean anything else._

“Thank you for doing this,” Haruka shot her a smile, hoping she wouldn’t be able to tell how words came out so hard. Judging by the smile she gave her back, everything was fine. “I guess you’re starting to get the reputation of the group’s medic. I’m glad we have someone here that’s good at this stuff.”

“Yeah. It’s a useful skill,” at the pain she now saw in Yukie’s eyes, she realised her mistake. Why hadn’t she realised… why hadn’t she remembered. _Her mother_. “I’ll handle the rest of the dishes. You get a little more rest, and take care of that hand. There’s not much more left.”

Haruka gave her a nod, knowing that protesting and insisting that she could keep going was going to be useless. Yukie would insist that she rest over and over until she gave in, and honestly, she didn’t mind. It felt so long since she had actually had someone around with her that actually cared for her. Sure, she had travelled with Hirono and Yoshimi, but the two had always been focused more on each other than her, and mainly, they banded together for a better chance of survival than anything.

When Yukie reached out to hug her, she accepted, heart beating madly as they made contact, going back to her own room after she left. The hug replayed over and over in her head as she tried to make herself go back to sleep, but she truly didn’t mind that much. It was a welcome distraction from whatever drama the day was going to no doubt hold.

\---

After leaving Haruka to rest for a while, Yukie went back to the café, wanting to clear the rest of the dishes that the group had left behind. As soon as she had climbed the stairs, however, she felt like something was wrong. Everything was still where it had been left, she was sure, but still, something was… off. She was sure that it wasn’t an intruder, as her feeling didn’t exactly feel dangerous, and no doubt, they probably wouldn’t be able to cover the tracks this well. She tried to dismiss the feeling as nothing and go back to the kitchen, when what was wrong finally hit her.

The spot on the wall, just behind the largest table in the café, was bare. The spot was meant to be holding her rota. Eyes wide, she ran over to see if there were any clues to where it had disappeared to. She couldn’t help but let out a gasp at the sight of it in pieces on the ground, feeling as if someone had shoved a knife into her chest. She knew almost everyone had hated the rota, but she never thought that they’d tear up her hard work.

When she collected the pieces, things managed to get even worse. Upon further inspection, on some of the pieces, in thick black marker, were words. She assembled them in order and felt tears sting her eyes when she deciphered the message.

**WANTED: DECENT LEADER!!**

Her fear began to dissolve into anger as she realised who had to have written it. She had never seen their writing before, which she knew made her claim a little brash, but there was no one else in the mall that would ever end up actually _ripping up_ the work rota. Eyes now filled with anger, she clutched the pieces and went off to Hirono’s room downstairs.

“Oh. What an honour to be graced with your presence,” Hirono smirked when Yukie entered the room. She gave her a glare as she held up the pieces of the rota. “I guess someone wasn’t a big fan of your little chores sheet… or you either, it seems. _Decent leader?_ Whoa. Seems pretty harsh.”

“Don’t give me that,” Yukie snapped, stepping closer to her. “I know it was you who did this.”

“What proof do you have?” Yoshimi got out of bed, all her hopes for another few hours of sleep killed. “That could have been anyone here! It could have even been you… trying to make Hirono look bad!”

“Excuse me?!” Yukie’s glare shifted to her now. “I’d never do such a thing! I just wanted to come here to let you know that I knew it was you – it looks less embarrassing that way – and I won’t let you do this to me. I’m trying my best to lead this group and-“

“Who made _you_ leader of this group?” Hirono stepped closer, clenching her fists. She wasn’t exactly sure if she wanted to get in a fight with Yukie, but she knew if that things escalated to that point, she’d definitely be the one to come out on top.

“I saw a situation that needed taking control of, and I did it. No one else was going to do it,” Yukie said, immediately feeling the need to defend her leadership. She was struggling enough with the role, spending her nights wondering if she was doing enough, and this had made her confidence almost completely disappear.

“God, you know you sound like Souma when you say stuff like that, right? It sounds just like her logic,” Hirono said. Shock more than anything filled Yukie as she was compared to Mitsuko of all people, and she jumped in to defend herself, but the other girl still had something left to say. “And – since you’re so big on this building up the world thing again, shouldn’t you care about it being fair? We didn’t exactly get a choice!”

“Who else do you recommend leading this place, then? Who else do you think should step up and take charge?” Yukie crossed her arms, watching a smirk cross Hirono’s face.

“Me. I think I could lead this place,” at first, Yukie thought she was joking, trying to rattle her chain and get her a little off-guard. When she realised a minute later that she seriously thought she should be group leader, she honestly didn’t know what to say. The thought of Hirono being group leader sounded like a disaster, but now that she’d gotten the idea out in the open, she wasn’t going to shut up about it until something was done.

“You’re right. It being fair is important – we all live here, and deserve to have a say,” Yukie said, keeping her voice calm. Hirono’s smirk returned. “We’ll have an election. Tonight. May the group decide who they want.”

“It’s on,” Hirono gave her a nod, stepping away a little. From behind her, Yoshimi beamed.

“An election?! Oh, that sounds fun – we haven’t had any fun in ages!” Yoshimi proclaimed. “I’ll have to find something nice to wear – an election calls for something fancy to wear! These rags won’t do! Come on, there has to be something here…”

Yukie left after that, watching Hirono just shake her head as Yoshimi rifled through her clothing. She smiled a little to herself as she climbed up the stairs, a plan starting to form in her mind.

\---

Waiting around all day for the election (or actually pitching in with the chores) seemed like torture to Yoshimi, so she ended up challenging Megumi and Kaori to another game of poker. The two, despite the fact that they lost terribly the day before, accepted in order to dodge the chores, and the game began. Megumi and Kaori weren’t as annoying as she had first thought they were, but other than absolutely crushing them in poker, she wasn’t going to go out of her way to spend time with them.

“So… got anything else to bet?” Yoshimi looked over at them, trying to hide a smirk.

The table was littered with items, from a sparkly dress of Yoshimi’s, to a pair of her earrings, to a few bracelets that Kaori placed on the table along with some CDs. The biggest prizes on the table were two bottles of water, from Megumi’s ration, and a few bottles of nail polish Kaori had mysteriously found in the arcade, the room she shared with Megumi. The two girls looked at one another, keeping their cards close, trying hard to figure out something else to place on the table.

Megumi dug around in the pocket of her jacket and produced a bag of marbles, them clanking down the table beside the bottles of nail polish. A satisfied smile filled her face, but faded away as soon as she saw Yoshimi wrinkle her nose, place her cards face down in her lap, and push the bag of marbles back into her hands.

“No, no. That won’t do,” Yoshimi said with a small laugh. “What am I supposed to do with a dumb little bag of marbles? Come on. You have to have something better than that. Something pretty good. Something _useful_.”

Megumi looked over at Kaori for a moment, gripping her cards tightly. She let their eyes meet as she tried to silently get her idea across to her, noticing worry streaming across her face as it clicked. Sure, using Yutaka’s food stash was risky, but she was sure he’d understand… and they just couldn’t lose another game to Yoshimi. They had to show her that they were at least a little cool, and worth her time.

“I’ll be back in a minute,” Megumi eventually said, placing her cards on the table face down. Kaori still looked worried, but she tried to dismiss it, knowing there was nothing she could do to stop her.

Megumi left the service area, sure that her friend would cheer up as soon as they finally won. She came back several minutes later with an armful of supplies, placing them down on the table with a sigh. Yoshimi’s eyes widened as she recognised some of the most precious items in their world, some of them she hadn’t seen in almost a year – chocolate bars, her favourite flavour of potato chips, canned pears, a few sticks of gum and three lollipops. It was an amazing sight even for the two who knew where it all came from, but Kaori knew that this had to mean trouble.

“Whoa! This… This stuff is like _gold_!” Yoshimi’s eyes widened as she tried to resist the urge to just reach out and unwrap one of the chocolate bars. “Where the hell did you get all this stuff? I thought this would have been all gone by now…”

“Well-“ Kaori sprang into action, trying to come up with her most convincing lie then and there. She hoped Megumi would figure out what she was trying to do, and also realise how dangerous the situation could be, but it was obvious that it hadn’t really clicked with her yet.

“We have our ways,” Megumi simply said, trying her hardest to appear sophisticated and tough. Both Kaori and Yoshimi alike almost laughed at her attempt, but it at least managed to shut up the latter for now. That was quite the relief to Kaori, but they weren’t out of the clear – what would happen when or if they needed to get more?

The game went on for a little longer, Yoshimi able to keep herself afloat with some cosmetics and jewellry. Megumi felt rather confident, having a feeling that they were definitely going to win, but Kaori wasn’t so sure. Every time she was sure she had a really good hand, they were crushed rather embarrassingly by Yoshimi. At the sight of the food, Yoshimi was even more driven to win, and she was sure that she was going to claim the prize and all-important bragging rights.

As the game showed signs of drawing to a close, she heard footsteps nearing the service area. Kaori almost jumped out of her skin at the sound, her feelings of fear worsening when the person that appeared was Hirono. She met Megumi’s eyes for a moment, them filled with panic, but the girl still didn’t seem to be that bothered. She wanted to yell at her, tell her that this was going to turn into a huge mess that would endanger themselves, Yutaka or both, but of course, she was stuck.

“Playing with the losers-“ Hirono cut herself off as soon as she stepped closer to the poker game, wide eyes fixed to the makeshift table. “Holy fuck. Where the hell did you get all this stuff?”

For the first time, Kaori thought she saw a bit a fear in Megumi’s eyes, now that Hirono had actually seen the supply of food on the table. Neither of them seemed to be in a rush to say anything, each trying to think of a believable lie, but it seemed completely impossible. They just couldn’t blurt out the secret about Yutaka’s stash – once Hirono and Yoshimi knew, the whole group would soon know, and Yutaka would be in a lot of trouble.

At the thought of Yutaka being thrown out and meeting an unfortunate fate at the hands of the Rejects or Hornets, Megumi’s face paled. It got worse at another thought – what if the group _killed_ Yutaka over the food stash? She didn’t know who would do it, but it seemed like an option – anyone could kill in this new world, it seemed. In a panic, she rose from the milk crate she was sitting on and stuttered out some words that made Kaori even more nervous.

“W-we can get more! Yeah, more. Coming, Kaori?”

Megumi grabbed her hand, giving her no time to response – not that she knew she could protest. She couldn’t do much to protect her, but she still felt an urge to go with her… just in case anything happened. Then, at least she wouldn’t be alone. The two left the service area quickly, hearing no words from Hirono and Yoshimi, heading quickly to Yutaka’s workshop to ask for some more food. They didn’t want to keep the two waiting.

“Do you think they’d notice if one of the chocolate bars went… missing?” Yoshimi looked over at her girlfriend with a small smile. Hirono shrugged at her and shot her a smirk. The wheels in her head were turning, and Yoshimi couldn’t help but think that somehow, she was thinking of bigger things. “You think I should go for the canned pears instead? I think that’s a little too obvious.

“No, no. Don’t bother with that – there’ll be plenty of time to eat later. You’re gonna crush them,” Hirono said, shaking her head. “I think we should go check where the little idiots have gotten all this stuff. It’s a real fucking mystery. Then, once you’ve solved it, we’ll make sure that we get access to the stuff. That part will be left to me, of course.”

“O-oh. Okay. I can’t deny I’m curious about what they got,” Yoshimi smiled, getting up from her seat. “I’ll be back soon. Watch my cards?”

Hirono nodded, taking the cards from her. She leaned against the wall, filled with more excitement than she’d felt in forever at the thought of the rest of the delights Megumi and Kaori had to be stashing. Once she’d bullied the stash away from them with some threats and shoving around, she and Yoshimi were going to eat like kings.

Yoshimi took more care than she’d had in ages with anything as she followed the two girls to their predicted stash. She wanted Hirono to be able to count on her. Everyone else seemed to think she was stupid and incapable of doing anything, but if she was able to get away with this, it was going to give her a confidence boost that she desperately needed.

When Megumi and Kaori stopped, she quickly hid behind a pillar, carefully peeking out when the time seemed right. She hadn’t been inside before, but she had passed by several times, revealing the place they had just entered as Yutaka’s workshop. _Seto’s involved in this too?!  I never knew so many losers had the guts to do something like this…_

After giving it a little while, Yoshimi scurried closer to the workshop, crouching down by the entrance. Unable to see much, she dared herself to come closer, hiding behind a counter. She took a deep breath and carefully peeked out, just barely suppressing a gasp when she caught sight of the cupboard. Every shelf was fully stocked, reminding her of the grocery stores she always took for granted. Canned vegetables. Canned fruits. Potato chips. Candy. Soup. Pudding. It was all wonderful… and was going to be theirs.

When she was sure she wouldn’t be caught, she left the workshop, quickly heading back to her girlfriend. _God she’s going to be happy when I tell her about all this…_

\---

“Please, Yutaka! Can we have more?” Megumi whined as the boy closed the cupboard, the sound of the lock clicking back into place bouncing around in her head. “I appreciate what you’ve given us… but _please-“_

“I’m sorry, Megumi,” Yutaka sighed. Since he’d gotten closer to Shinji, the boy had helped him become a little stronger, making him feel like he could even actually stand up for himself. “If I keep giving out heaps of food like this… it’s gonna go down really fast. The supply has already taken a hit.”

“Come on! Please… please!” Megumi begged, gripping the food he’d given her tightly. Kaori looked over at her, silently pleading at her to stop, but it didn’t do a shred of good. “Just one more time?”

“No, Megumi. One more time will turn into two more times and then three more times, until the entire cupboard is empty,” Yutaka sighed. “I’m sorry, I hope you win your game… but that’s all your getting from me. Just no.”

Megumi finally gave in, giving him a small nod before leaving with a now extremely relieved Kaori. On the way out, they almost bumped into Shinji, but managed to shield the food as they hurried out of sight. Shinji rolled his eyes at the display, taking a seat on the stool in the workshop. The two were just stupid kids, in way over their heads in this new world, and as awful as it sounded, he doubted that they’d still be alive if they hadn’t been taken under Yukie’s wing.

“What was that all about? Batteries or something?” He frowned. He was sure that the two would probably be the type to want to waste precious batteries on something as mundane as handheld game consoles, but was proud of Yutaka for seemingly having the power to say no to them. Even in this short time, he’d come a long way.

“Yeah,” Yutaka lied smoother than expected, grateful that Shinji had given him a quick way out. Unable to help himself, he went on to add something else to the lie, when he heard a knock at the entrance to the workshop.

“Oh. Yukie. Come in,” Yutaka gave her a smile, him and Shinji turning to face the prospective leader.

Shinji sighed at the sight of her and tried not to roll his eyes. Since the election had been announced this morning, he had just been waiting for the two candidates to come and shove themselves down his throat. He wasn’t going to pay any attention to either of them, no matter whatever fancy offers or exaggerations they made. He was determined to think for himself, figuring himself to be one of the only ones in the group who wouldn’t be easily swayed one way or the other.

“I wanted to talk about the election,” Yukie pulled up a stool beside them. Shinji sighed, the conversation going just where it thought it would. “I have a plan.”

“Yes?” Yutaka leaned in closer, much more interested than Shinji was. Yukie smiled slightly, grateful to finally approach someone who seemed enthusiastic, and dropped the bomb that neither boy was expecting.

“We need to vote for Hirono.”

“What?!” Yutaka took no time to process, immediately voicing his aversion. The sight made Shinji cringe, but he tried his hardest to hide it. The boy couldn’t help it, but he would hopefully learn eventually. “Hirono is the worst possible choice for leader – please don’t let that get back to her in any way – she’ll push all of us around!”

“I know, I know. You both probably think I’m crazy, but I’ve thought this out. If I win, Hirono will never let me forget it. Ever. She’ll try her hardest to make it as difficult for me as possible,” both of them had to give her a nod at that. “Voting Hirono in may be difficult for a while, but it will be worth it in the long run. In the end, she’ll get sick of having to manage it all – the defence, rations, food, chores, the list goes on – and things will fall apart. Then, she’ll have to admit defeat and hopefully we’ll come to some sort of an agreement.”

“That… makes a lot of sense actually,” Yutaka said. He still had some doubts, but it really seemed like Yukie had seriously thought this out. “I can see her getting a little overwhelmed in the end. She only wants to do what she wants to do… and I doubt that putting together chore rosters is high on that list.”

“Exactly,” Yukie nodded. “So… what do you say?”

“I’m in,” Yutaka said immediately. All eyes turned to Shinji.

“You’ll see me at the vote,” was all Shinji told her.

Yukie nodded at him, leaving the room promptly after that. There was no use in begging Shinji to join her plan – he was strong, and determined to keep his vote secret. All she could do was hope he’d vote in the way she perceived right.

\---

“So… how do I look?”

She knew it shouldn’t be that big on her list of priorities, or something that she’d ever admit to anyone, but she couldn’t help but smile at the sight of Yoshimi spinning around in the sparkly dress she’d dug up from somewhere. She was taking the election seriously, in her own special way, and despite the fact that she wasn’t the strongest member of the group, she couldn’t help but feel that having her support meant the most.

“Perfect,” Hirono took her hands. “Just like the girlfriend of this group’s future leader.”

“Just what I was going for,” Yoshimi smiled, leaning in to kiss her. “I can’t wait to be by your side at the head of the group, just as it’s supposed to be. They’d be crazy not to vote you in!”

Hirono smirked, agreeing with her statement, leaning in to kiss her back. Yoshimi kissed her again, proclaiming it was for good luck, and it went on for a while until they both realised that they should be getting on to the election. Hirono held her hand tightly as they went up the stairs, taking seats beside one another in the café. Haruka sat at the head of the table, a large container in the middle of it.

When Yugo and Noriko arrived together, taking the last seats, the election went underway.

“We’ve tried to make this as fair as possible, so that is how it will work. All voting will remain anonymous, which will be done by the use of marbles,” Haruka held up the bag, which she had borrowed from Megumi and Kaori, giving it a light shake. “The bag will be passed around to everyone one by one, all of you taking one marble – blue for Hirono and green for Yukie. Once we’ve all taken one, we’ll throw them all in the container, with the one with the most marbles taking the win. Does everyone understand?”

They all gave her a quick nod, and the process began. As the bag was passed around, the tension in the room grew, everyone completely silent. The only sound was the shake of the marbles inside the bag, it managing to make everyone else feel even more unsettled. Once the bag had been passed back to Haruka, she placed it aside, and after a count of three, the whole group threw their marbles into the container.

Yukie and Hirono both peered into the container, the rest of the group trying to get a look in as well. Poking out between the abundance of blue marbles were three green ones, and once she realised this, Hirono let out a cry of delight. Yukie feigned disappointment, moving back in her seat, but inside, she was overjoyed. The plan had worked.

“HA! YES! I knew I’d win! Good thing you all picked the right person to run this place!” Hirono cheered, smiling brightly. “Hell yeah!”

“Congratulations, Shimizu,” Yukie nodded at her. “We had a fair vote, and the people decided what they wanted.”

“Yeah! This group has more sense than I thought it did!” Hirono rose from her chair. “Party at my place for whoever voted for me! It’s gonna be great!”

“I think an occasion like this calls for some chocolate pudding, don’t you think?” Yoshimi got up, a grin on her face. She was oblivious to the silence that had suddenly overtaken the room.

“Wait… who has chocolate pudding?!” Yugo was the first to speak, frowning at Yoshimi. Mumblings began to spread through the group, no one noticing Yutaka starting to sink lower in his seat.

“Seto! He has heaps of stuff, in a cupboard in his room! It’s amazing!” Yoshimi beamed, still not understanding why the group seemed so unsettled and angry.

“Is this true, Yutaka?” Shinji raised an eyebrow. He looked furious, but in the rare moment he could meet them, he could see pure disappointment in his eyes.

“Y-yes. It is,” Yutaka mumbled. There was no point in denying it, it was only going to make it worse… if that was even possible. “But I can explain-“

“No need for that now. We have a party to get to. But you can’t have a _traitor_ celebrating with us,” Hirono looked over at Yutaka, grabbing his arms. He looked at the group with wide eyes, but no one rushed to help him. “We’ll lock him up in the lift shaft for the night – use it as a cage. There’ll be a trial in the morning – I’ll make sure it’s fair.”

The group only watched as Yutaka was hauled away by Hirono, unable to believe what had just happened. Shinji got up and left as soon as he was gone, not in the mood to be around anyone, wanting to be alone to process the happenings of the night. Yoshimi, however, still seemed ecstatic.

“Now, to the food?”


	11. Chapter Eleven

Chapter Eleven

Shinji barely got any sleep the night the truth came out about Yutaka’s food stash. As much as he tried after a while, telling himself that someone as low as Yutaka now was wasn’t worth this time or thoughts, he couldn’t help his mind being filled with questions of him. This lead to an awful night that left him even more unprepared for the day ahead. _I really thought that I had some kind of ‘friend’. I thought he was different. But then again, that only makes you the fool, doesn’t it? You can’t count on anyone in this world. They all have their ugly side._

He was one of the first to awaken, he realised after stepping out of his room, the CD shop on the ground floor. It appeared that Hirono had been serious about the party at her place, judging by the members of the group sprawled across their beds in heaps he observed as he passed their rooms, taking little glimpses from the windows. This was further confirmed by all the empty cans that littered the tables in the café, it obvious they were all making good work of Yutaka’s food stash already.

While he knew he shouldn’t, as it would only make him feel worse, he walked closer and examined the labels of the cans. Chocolate pudding. Sweet corn. Peaches. Pears. The list went on, both making him feel absolutely starving and even more furious. How could Yutaka hide all this from them? They’d been on the brink of starvation at several times in their short history as a group, and he was eating like a king in secret through it all. It was unbelievable.

Despite his anger, he knew he needed to talk to Yutaka before the trial, mainly for himself more than anything. If the group decided to kick him out, there was no doubt that they’d never speak again, and there was some stuff that he really needed to ask him. He found his way to the market lift shaft, the makeshift cage, rather easily. He took care as he stepped down the stairs, not wanting to wake anyone up. There was no doubt that it would cause interruptions.

Yutaka was awake when he came down, and from the look on his face, he hadn’t slept very well either. He sat slouched in a corner of the cage, eyes on the ground, having not heard Shinji come in. He approached the cage carefully, trying to figure out something to say to alter him to his presence, but ultimately just decided to clear his throat and wait.

“O-oh… Shinji,” Yutaka quickly looked over at him, unable to meet his eyes. Shinji moved closer to the cage and placed his hand on the chain links, letting out a sigh.

“I never would have thought it would be _you_ , out of everyone here,” Shinji said quietly. “But then again, I should know not to trust anyone. In this world especially, you only end up looking like a fool.”

“I didn’t mean for it to end up like this,” Yutaka said hurriedly. He wanted to defend himself badly,  but knew how bad it looked. In this new world, what he had done was absolutely despicable. He couldn’t even blame Shinji for being mad at him. “I just didn’t know what to do. I was scared. If I came forward on my own, it would look just as bad – maybe you guys would have just kicked me out right away. It... it seemed too late to do anything!”

“We would have had a lot more respect for you – at least, the majority of us – if you’d just come forward. I’m sure we would have been able to work out something… but there’s no point in thinking about what you _could_ have done anymore,” Shinji tried to meet his eyes, but Yutaka stared down at the ground again. “What you need to focus on is getting through this trial. At the moment, I have no idea how it’s going to go. I don’t even know how Shimizu is going to work it… and how I’ll vote, for that matter.”

Yutaka finally met his eyes, them pleading with him, but Shinji tried his hardest to remain immune to his glare. He wasn’t worth his time at all anymore – never should have been in the first place – and he had to think critically about him still having a place in the group. He noticed the boy’s mouth open, no doubt going to be him pleading for him to vote for him to stay, but he didn’t get anywhere.

Hirono had arrived, meaning that the party was over, and preparations for the trial could begin. He stepped away from the bars as Hirono placed her hands on the chain links, giving the cage a little kick. It wasn’t much, but enough to freak out Yutaka just enough to make him jump. At her chuckle, Shinji thought about saying something, but ultimately decided against it. There was no doubt going to be a lot of fighting later on, so he’d have time to get in on the action if he changed his mind.

“I can handle everything from here,” Hirono said, and Shinji left without a word. When she knew he was gone, she turned back to the bars with an eerie grin on her face. Yutaka, despite the bars between them, tried to move back a little, brought right back to the days of good old junior high bullying.

“H-hey, Shimizu,” Yutaka tried to keep his voice still and smile, but it turned out more like a grimace.

“Don’t worry. I won’t hurt you. As leader of this group, I have to protect each and every one of my subjects,” Hirono smirked, it obvious that she still was still up on cloud nine from the victory the night before. For a brief moment, he wondered if it mean she’d take it easy on him, but it was futile. “And… if we all decide to kick you out, it wouldn’t be fair to take a way a little of the Rejects’ work.”

At the thought of being beaten – and then murdered in a rather grisly manner – by the Rejects, Yutaka let out a little squeak. While fear was close to paralysing him, it also managed to wake him up at the same time. He couldn’t let himself meet that fate, and he had to do everything in his power to get out of it. As an idea came to mind… something just about _foolproof_ , he tried to hide a grin.

“Are you sure you want to kick me out?” Yutaka asked. He slowly stood, almost toppling over several times, but he tried to keep the idea of his plan strong in his head. Hopefully, it would bring back a little of his confidence.

“What’s it to me? What can a little shrimp like you offer to our group, really? Can’t cook. Obviously can’t be any sort of leader. _Definitely_ can’t help defend this place,” Hirono laughed. Yutaka clenched his fists and resisted the urge to explode, knowing he most definitely contributed to the group, and was smarter than she could ever hope to be. He needed to keep his head in the game, as hard as it was.

“But I do have knowledge,” Yutaka said, keeping his voice controlled, as hard as it was. He wanted to be smug so badly. “I can build a water filter. An alarm system. Maybe one day… some generator of power? Sure, I’ll need some help from Shinji, but he won’t be able to do it alone either. If you want some solo knowledge of mine though… well I do know that a certain someone here has a decent sized water stash.”

Hirono’s eyes widened at the mention of the stash. To be truthful, she hadn’t thought about it in forever – a lot had happened since the day that she’d decided she’d needed it… Sakura had just gotten sick, Mitsuru was still alive, and she wasn’t sure if she and Yoshimi were going to end up moving on. Now, life, despite the shitty world situation, was quite sweet. There’d be no way she’d be going anywhere… unless that stash came out.

Water was more crucial with food. She’d managed to listen long enough in class to know things could quickly go pretty shit if you didn’t have any, which could end up happening for the rest of the bunch soon. If they knew… they’d all be livid, and it wouldn’t matter whether she was leader or not. Yukie, that bitch,  would take ease in leading the witch hunt, and before long, she’d be out on the street.

Of course, she’d be able to survive, but she’d have to start from scratch again… and what if they kicked out Yoshimi with her? While she’d never admit it, she’d never forgive herself if she got her in that trouble.

“You wouldn’t have the guts,” Hirono crossed her arms. Hopefully, if she managed to intimidate him enough, he’d shut up… but deep down, she knew it was a sad attempt at telling herself she wasn’t a failure. While she hated it, there was absolutely no denying that Yutaka was the one who had pretty much all the power here.

“I… I will,” Yutaka gave her a nod, keeping his face blank. “I’m not asking you to clear my name, or make everyone forget about all this. I know I did something wrong but… _you can’t throw me out._ If… if you all decide to throw me out, I’ll reveal the stash. Otherwise… I’ll shut up. Okay?”

Continuing to attempt to intimidate him was useless, Hirono realised. It was probably the gutsiest thing the boy had ever done – maybe even would ever do – in his life, and in such an intense situation like this, she bet he could whip out that information. It would be enough to turn her into the villain. At the moment, she figured she was a reasonably strong leader, and it would probably easy to get Yutaka a smaller punishment.

“Fine,” Hirono snapped. “But you better forget everything you ever saw after today. Deal?”

Yutaka nodded hurriedly. Hirono smirked and nodded back at him, leaving to make the final preparations for the trial. When she was gone, he allowed himself to have a little smirk. Had he really just done that?! He’d never gotten one over on a bully before… it was a pity that it took the world essentially ending for him to do it.

\---

The area by the fountain has been set up for the trial. Hirono knew very little about trials save for what she’d seen on TV while flicking through the channels, so it was a very makeshift affair. A garbage bin had been put in the area in between the two staircases that lead to the café for him to stand in – something the girl found hilarious – and she’d gotten herself a nice office chair from the furniture shop to sit in while she asked questions. The rest of the group had to make do with the chairs from the café, all set out hastily in front of the fountain.

Noriko, Yukie and Haruka had gathered before the trial, leaning by the wall by the row of shops to the fountain, ensuring that their little talk wouldn’t make them late for the event. Getting on Hirono’s bad side, especially during her new time as ruler, wasn’t going to end in anything good, not that Yukie or Haruka cared very much. They just needed to keep it up for now, and wait for Hirono to crumble.

“I’m not defending him… believe me, I’m angry that Seto would hide that food from us… but we need to think clearly about all this,” Yukie was the first to speak. Noriko and Haruka stepped closer and gave her a nod.

“As the one who has been around Hirono the longest, I know it’s pretty rare for her to actually think hard about a decision… even something like this. She’s on a high since being elected and thinks she can do whatever she pleases, and throwing out Seto seems like the best way to display her power…” Haruka sighed. “Despite what he did, we need him.”

“I agree,” Noriko nodded. “Maybe we could try talking to some of the others before the trial? Try to get them to see our point…”

Before Yukie or Haruka could reply, they jumped at the sound of something banging down by the fountain. Hirono then loudly announced the commencement of the trial, and for the group to hurry to get a seat. The three looked at each other and shared a sigh, their plan destroyed, and could only hope that the other members of the group thought logically when they made their decisions. Taking a seat beside Haruka, Yukie squeezed her hand lightly as Yutaka was brought out, it just feeling right in the moment. Haruka shot her a little smile and felt her heart beat a little faster, but it all came crashing down when Hirono began to speak.

“So, here he is. The _thief_ ,” Hirono smirked, watching Yutaka awkwardly climb into the bin. “So, kid… do you plead guilty… or not?”

At how dumb she sounds, Shinji almost snorted in laughter, but stopped himself at the last moment. He needed to focus.

“Not guilty,” Yutaka stammered out. Immediately, shouts of “bullshit” and “oh, come on” filled the room. Shinji had opted to remain quiet and keep his face blank, still torn which way he’d vote. He senses Yutaka’s eyes were trying to find his, but he kept away. The boy would have to do this on his own.

“Why do you say that?” Hirono said. It was obvious she was trying to be formal, but the fact that her feet were propped up on the stair rail made it absolutely laughable. “We found the stash right there in your room, all the good stuff. More food than any of us have seen since we still had grocery stores. You obviously had it all before we came… but you didn’t come forward with it. Seems pretty selfish.”

“That seems like something to throw someone out over,” Yoshimi said. A few people nodded, but Yukie tried to subtly shoot her a glare.

“It does, doesn’t it? You know, Seto, I once saw a kid who looked just like that, after the Rejects got to him. They’d tied him to a tree and beaten him up pretty bad,” Hirono began, Yutaka beginning to shake at the image in his head. “It looked like they were trying to cut him in half-“

“Stop it!” Yukie shouted, unable to contain herself anymore. “Shouldn’t you think about giving him a second chance?! What Seto did was wrong, and there’s no doubt that we’re all angry but I really don’t think this is something worth him dying over!”

“This is _my_ trial and you should shut up… but I have to admit, you do have a point. I guess I believe in second chances... and it seems pretty unfair to shove someone out there who really has no chance,” Hirono said. Yukie couldn’t help but be surprised by her sudden “change of heart,” but kept on listening. “I think we should let him explain, before anything. After all… I said this was going to be fair. Seto, why did you decide to keep all that food a secret?”

“I… I…” Yutaka stammered, before realising there was no use in lying. Hirono was already going to get him out of this, and he owed the group too much to lie to them. “I wanted to make it last longer.”

“So you were fine with letting us all starve, then?” Yoshimi snapped. A few people shot glares at her, but before anyone could start a fight, Yukie spoke up. She knew she should be quiet, let Hirono lead and it would all fall into place in a few days, but she just couldn’t help interjecting.

“But we’ve been rationing,” this time, it was her turn to be glared at. “You knew that. You could have come forward. We would have been a lot more understanding if you had come forward yourself.”

“Can you shut up? My message wasn’t clear enough at first?” Hirono glared. Yukie sank a little in her seat in embarrassment, trying to promise herself to stop intervening. Hirono was handling this, and she just had to sit back and listen… which was a lot harder than she had anticipated when she’d cooked up her leadership plan.

“Sorry… go on, Seto,” Yukie told herself it was going to be the last thing she said during the trial. She just hoped she could stick to that.

“I guess it was a sentimental thing too…” Yutaka continued, noticing a few group members become a little more interested, while others just rolled their eyes. A part of him hoped it would win him some sympathy, but he mainly just wanted to tell the full truth. “My dad got me all that food. It was one of the last things he did before he got sick. He told me to survive the best I could and… I guess I didn’t want to let my last real thing left of him go…”

A few more people in the group looked sympathetic, and there were now genuine tears in his eyes at the memory of his father. He refused to let them fall, not wanting to cry in front of the group, especially at his own trial. He noticed that Shinji had kept his facial expressions guarded through all this, which worried him more than anything. He could take any other member of the group disliking him, but there was something about Shinji completely losing any admiration for him that really hit him hard.

“The majority of us miss our parents. Guess you have to hold on to whatever memories you can… even if in this case, it was pretty damn selfish,” Hirono said, trying to make herself as convincing as possible. Hopefully, they wouldn’t be able to tell she was trying to get Yutaka out of a real serious punishment, but Yukie was already feeling a little… weird about her rather quick decision change. “You’ve finally been honest with us – you’re too much of a coward to lie – and your reason didn’t piss me off as much as I thought it would.”

Yukie raised an eyebrow and almost went to question Hirono, but reminded herself to be quiet. However, as she began to think about it more, she couldn’t help but speak up. She tried to figure out something to say that could get the group on her side before Hirono could yell at her, but it took longer than she had expected. Just as she thought she had come up with something, Hirono spoke again, and the moment was gone.

“I think we’ve heard all we needed from Seto. As leader, I think I’m the best judge of that. Now… it’s for a vote. First I want us to decide on what we’re gonna do with him. We could throw him out… but if the rest of you are in a forgiving mood or some shit, we could give him some extra chores and keep a watch on him for a while,” Hirono announced. “So… who’s for throwing him out?”

More hands than Yutaka expected shot up. His eyes widened and he shot a look at Hirono, but she ignored him. The moment to reveal her stash seemed like it was going to come up, and now that it was, he was beginning to have doubts on whether he could actually do it or not. He watched carefully as Hirono asked who was for him being hit with some extra chores, seeing Hirono’s own hand (was she meant to vote? He had no idea) and Yukie’s shoot up first.

Was it enough to save him? Too blinded by his anxiety, he didn’t get around to counting the votes.

“Wait!” surprisingly, it was Yugo who spoke up. “You haven’t voted yet, Shinji.”

Shinji was quiet for a few moments, before he finally let everyone know what side he was on. With a deep sigh, he announced that he voted for Yutaka to stay, but be hit with some sort of punishment for the food hoarding. The decision made, Hirono announced the trial was over, and it was time to get to making some changes around the mall. As the group dispersed, Yutaka climbed out of the bin carefully, almost falling flat on his face in his attempt to catch up to Shinji before he left.

“Mimura!” Yutaka called out. His voice echoed around the mall, making him impossible to ignore. “I… I just wanted to say thank you for how you voted.”

“I didn’t do it for you,” Shinji turned around slowly. “I did it for the sake of the group. They need your skills… that’s all.”

As he walked away, Yutaka only watched, feeling as if something inside him had broken. It may take a while, but he was determined to make Shinji forgive him.

\---

While she knew she should leave it, Yukie couldn’t help herself from following Hirono after the trial. While she had wanted Yutaka to stay too, there was no doubting that Hirono’s quick insistence that Yutaka deserved to stay that was quite out of the ordinary. Whatever was behind it was something she felt like she needed to know about, for the sake of the group. She found the girl sitting behind the customer service desk in the same office chair from the trial, feet propped up. It was definitely not what Yukie thought a leader should be, but she tried her hardest to keep a smile on her face. She needed to be civil.

“What do you want?” Hirono asked, sitting up a little straighter. “I’m surprised you managed to shut up for the rest of the trial. Guess you just can’t contain yourself anymore, hey?”

“I… I just wanted to talk about something,” Yukie forced herself to give her a little smile. “The trial. I… I apologise if I’m overstepping, but as it went on, it started to feel like something was a little off.  It really felt like you were _very eager_ to lighten Seto’s punishment. I just wondered if there was anything that the group should know… for all our best interests, of course.”

“Utsumi,” Hirono shot her a glare. “I know you’re pissed that you figured out no one here likes you and you missed out on being leader, but don’t try to fuck up what I’m trying to do by trying to find non-existent problems. I don’t have time for your shit. I have better things to do – like putting up the new work rota.”

Yukie’s face fell at first, despite the fact that she somewhat _knew_ Hirono would only greet her with nastiness, but it was all replaced with surprise when she realised that Hirono had actually _kept_ her idea of the rota. She snapped back to Earth as Hirono got up, and she quickly began to follow her to the café, wondering what it would look like.

The group were all gathered already, waiting for one of the others to start on lunch, making it the perfect time for Hirono to reveal the new rota. Yukie took a seat and decided she’d let her have the moment, trying to tell herself that if she kept interjecting, she might get suspicious that the election was thrown. If anything serious happened, of course she’d _have_ to speak up, but for now, she’d be quiet.

“So, new rota. Here it is,” Hirono muttered, ripping off Yukie’s newly drawn one from the day before. As she tore it up, the girl flinched, it being harder to be silent. She slapped the new rota on the wall and turned to the group. “Go look at your new roles, do them, and just shut up.”

She stepped back everyone flocked to the rota, searching for their names. It soon became obvious to everyone that something was very… off. Only Noriko, Yugo, Yukie, Kaori and Megumi had been assigned chores… while everyone else had a blank schedule. The only one that made sense in a way was Sakura, as she was still recovering from illness and had her hands full with Maki, but everything else seemed ridiculous.

“What is this?” Noriko asked. “Why have only five of us been assigned chores?”

“Well, you guys seemed to have some interest in doing them… and I don’t think any of you could actually learn to fight, so deal with it,” Hirono shrugged. “Yeah. Everyone else is on defence – except for you, Ogawa. Just look after your kid and stay out of my way. Mimura and Seto, you guys can work on your science shit as well, but you’re still expected to be at training. And Seto – don’t think I’ve forgotten about the trial verdict.”

Yutaka nodded and looked down at the floor, the entire group silent.

“Well, what are you waiting for?!” Hirono yelled, several people flinching. “Go on, get to work!”

\---

The next morning marked the beginning of the first full day of the new administration. It had gotten off to a rocky start after Yukie accidentally burnt breakfast, her mind elsewhere, and Kazuhiko, against the orders of Hirono, tried to help with the chores. Noriko had tried to diffuse the mess, but had just been sent off to clean the windows. So far, she’d done most of the bottom floor, finishing up close to the fountain. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Megumi and Kaori were stuck into sweeping the floors… but something was off.

“Hey, where are the broom handles?” Noriko frowned, walking up to the girls. They looked up from brushing the floor with the brush part of the broom, eyes filled with hopelessness.

“We went to get the brooms… and they didn’t have any handles anymore,” Megumi mumbled with a shrug. “I just thought we should go with it… otherwise, if we didn’t do it, Shimizu would be after us…”

“I… I understand,” Noriko sighed, but crouched down to take the brushes from their hands. “But you shouldn’t have to do this… it’s Shimizu’s job to make sure you have the appropriate materials. Come on, we’ll go talk to her and maybe we can work this out…”

While they wanted to protest, the two girls followed Noriko, feeling as if she could protect them. Hirono was in the service area of the mall, close to the lift shaft where they’d held Yutaka before his trial with the group who had been left exempt from chores. It appeared that she was trying to teach them how to defend themselves… with the very broom handles the three girls were looking for.

“What do you three want?” Hirono frowned, motioning for the others to wait for a minute. “You can’t be finished with everything already, and it’s nowhere near time for a break.”

“I noticed that Megumi and Kaori were missing the handles for their brooms,” Noriko began quietly, “I just wanted to ask you where they were. As the leader, I thought you were the right person to come to.”

Hirono threw the broom handle on the ground and shot a glare at Yutaka. Wanting to defend herself, he immediately asked what the matter was. As she called him an idiot for grabbing the broom handles for weapons, with him arguing that he didn’t know what to get, the three just watched, almost about to let out a laugh. When their leader turned back to them, however, they pasted serious expressions back on.

“For now, we need them,” Hirono said, it obvious she was trying hard to kid herself into believing she was on top of everything. “Don’t whine. I have a defence lesson to teach and you all have chores to do, so just _deal with it._ ”

The three let out a sigh and walked away, wondering how long it was going to last. While it was only the first full day, Noriko had a feeling it wouldn’t be long. Cracks were already beginning to appear…

\---

After her hands began to feel raw, Yukie knew she needed a break. How Hirono thought this would work astounded her – of course she wouldn’t care about it being fair, but couldn’t she see that it was too much work for the five of them, and they’d probably all end up extremely exhausted in a few days? She took a deep breath and was about to bury her head in her hands before seeing Haruka appear out of the corner of her eye, a small smile appearing on her face.

Haruka noticed she didn’t look as happy to see her as she once was, but tried to excuse it. Of course she would be feeling some resentment. She didn’t know why she had been excused from chores as she had been quite heavy on wanting everyone to chip in as well, and had only held off as she didn’t want to start more drama. After Kazuhiko getting slammed simply for offering to help clear some plates, having a _real_ fight break out was something she wanted to definitely avoid.

“Hey… are you okay?” Haruka took a seat beside her. “Your hands… can I get something to help?”

“It… it’s fine,” Yukie kept the smile on her face, not sure what she’d do if she didn’t. She didn’t pull her hands away from Haruka’s, letting them stay there, it feeling strangely right in a way. “It doesn’t matter that much to me. It’s just all this. I knew that things would be different if we let Shimizu won, but I didn’t think she’d be this… unfair.”

“I can see what you mean. It surprised me as well, but I don’t think she’ll be in this for the long-term,” Haruka said. “I think we just need to let her collapse on her own… but who knows? If things get tougher for you, Yukie, and you ever need a hand, just let me know. I don’t want you to exhaust yourself.”

“Thank you, Haruka. I really appreciate it,” Yukie felt her face heat up and she was about to add something else to her reply, but Hirono cut in first, yelling out for Haruka to quit slacking off and to come back to training. They shot pained smiles to one another as she left, Yukie alone in the café once again.

_Just a few more days, Yukie. Then… this place will run like it should._

\---

It took three days for the chores group to decide that something needed to be done. After no one from the no chores group have volunteered to help (save for Kazuhiko and Sakura when they weren’t busy with Maki), leaving them with intense amounts of work, more of their equipment went missing, and the exhaustion started to set in, Yukie knew she just couldn’t let Hirono collapse on her own like Haruka had said. Sometimes, things needed a little push, and since the no chores group for the most part didn’t even seem thankful for their efforts, it seemed more justified than ever.

A plan had been decided on in the evening of the first day. As the five helped with varying parts of dish duty, they voiced their complaints to one another and their fears things would only get worse, leading to Yukie deciding they needed to take a stand… only that Hirono couldn’t know that it was her who suggested it. Noriko offered to hold a meeting in her room where they would discuss what was to happen, and it was all agreed upon. It was decided that they would also invite Kazuhiko and Sakura as they were in the middle off the mess, and that they’d do it in the middle of the night.

Once they were sure that the other side of the group were asleep, they slowly crept out of their rooms one by one and made their way to Noriko’s. The kitchenware store she resided in was still mainly dark – just in case – with only one candle lit to be a minimal light source. Pillows were set out and one by one, everyone arrived and took a seat. Some seemed excited while others were fearful, but everyone shared a feeling of change.

“Is that everyone?” Yukie asked. One by one, everyone gave her a nod. “Thank you all for coming – and thank you, Noriko, for letting us use your room. It has become obvious that something needs to be done, and while it has only been four and a half days since Shimizu took over, we simply cannot wait for her to break down like I thought was the case in my original plan. Can everyone agree?”

“Yes,” Yugo nodded. “I can’t do this anymore… I’ve burnt my hands three times making dinner!”

“My hands are sore from scrubbing,” Megumi was the next to voice her complaints.

“Yes, yes, I think we all feel that way,” Yukie nodded at them. “So, I propose we go on strike. No cooking. No cleaning. Nothing. We won’t lift a finger for any of them.”

“That… that sounds quite effective,” Noriko smiled at her, letting out a little laugh.

“But… but won’t Shimizu get angry?” Kaori asked shakily. “What if she… hurts us.”

“I won’t let her hurt any of us. I promise,” Yukie said firmly, her eyes scanning the group. “So… who’s in?”

Everyone nodded, and slowly but surely, they all joined hands. While it had been unexpected that morning, they all went to bed somewhat happy, more than ready to face the next day and for the plan to begin.


End file.
